(No.  9.     Vol.  XVII.) 


PROCEEDINGS 


OF   THE 


iFtg  of  3£nWqnii'g, 


FOR   THE   YEAR 


WORCESTER,  MASS.: 
PUBLISHED  BY  THE  SOCIETY. 

U.    S.    A.    CXXV. 
IQOI. 


Attention  is  called  to  an  error  in  the  numbering  of 
the  Proceedings  for  January  and  February,  1901. 

Recipients  are  requested  to  change  the  numbering  of 
that  issue  from  n  to  8. 

All  preceding  numbers,  beginning  with  No.  i  of 
1900,  together  with  all  publications  issued  during  the 
present  year,  are  designed  to  be  bound  in  one  volume, 
and  title  page  will  be  furnished  with  the  last  number  of 
this  volume.  This  volume  will  be  No.  XVII. 

[OVER.] 


statement  relative  to  the  work  and  expense  attend- 
ing it,  the  President  called  for  reading  of  the  report 
of  the  Executive  Committee,  to  whom  the  matter 
had  been  referred.  Report  as  follows : 

Executive  Committee  met  at  the  residence  of  the 
2d  Vice-President,  Georgia  T.  Kent,  Tuesday  even- 
ing, January  22,  1901,  for  the  purpose  of  consider- 
ing the  subject  of  printing  and  issuing  the  Proceed- 
ings of  the  Society.  After  a  full  and  careful  discus- 
sion of  the  matter  it  was  voted,  ist,  to  recommend 
to  the  Society  that  in  the  future  advertisements  be 
omitted ;  2d,  that  the  issuing  of  a  publication  for 
each  meeting  of  the  Society  be  discontinued  ;  3rd, 
that  some  person  be  employed  to  assist  the  Libra- 
rian and  act  as  janitor  under  direction  of  the 
Librarian. 


The  BULLETIN  has  been  discontinued 


Proceedings.  365 

357th  Meeting. 

Tuesday  evening,  March  5,  1901. 

President  Crane  in  the  chair. 

Others  present:  Messrs.  Arnold,  C.  C.  Baldwin, 
Dickinson,  Darling,  Davidson,  Ely,  Gould,  Had- 
wen,  M.  A.  Maynard,  Geo.  Maynard,  Geo.  M.  Rice, 
Williamson,  Mrs.  C.  C.  Baldwin,  Mrs.  Barrett,  Mrs. 
Darling,  Miss  Moore,  Mrs.  A.  C.  Munroe,  Miss 
H.  A.  Smith. 

Librarian  reported  additions  for  the  past  month, 
27  bound  volumes,  25  pamphlets,  28  papers,  and  3 
miscellaneous  articles. 

The  subject  of  printing  and  distributing  the 
Society's  Proceedings  was  taken  up,  and  after  a 
statement  relative  to  the  work  and  expense  attend- 
ing it,  the  President  called  for  reading  of  the  report 
of  the  Executive  Committee,  to  whom  the  matter 
had  been  referred.  Report  as  follows : 

Executive  Committee  met  at  the  residence  of  the 
2d  Vice-President,  Georgia  T.  Kent,  Tuesday  even- 
ing, January  22,  1901,  for  the  purpose  of  consider- 
ing the  subject  of  printing  and  issuing  the  Proceed- 
ings of  the  Society.  After  a  full  and  careful  discus- 
sion of  the  matter  it  was  voted,  ist,  to  recommend 
to  the  Society  that  in  the  future  .advertisements  be 
omitted ;  2d,  that  the  issuing  of  a  publication  for 
each  meeting  of  the  Society  be  discontinued  ;  3rd, 
that  some  person  be  employed  to  assist  the  Libra- 
rian and  act  as  janitor  under  direction  of  the 
Librarian. 


366  Proceedings. 

Following  the  reading  of  the  report,  Vice- Presi- 
dent Maynard  stated  that  some  objections  had  been 
made  to  having  advertisements  inserted  in  our  pub- 
lications unless,  they  were  of  .same  character  of  the 
work  of  the  Society,  also  that  a  little  expense  would 
be.  saved  anii  'the  size  of  the  publication  be  made 
more  uniform  by  incorporating  the  reports  of  two 
meetings  'in  'one  issue. 

After  further  discussion  of  the  subject  the  Society 
voted  to  accept  and  adopt  the  report  of  the  Execu- 
tive Committee.  It  was  then  voted  that  the  publi- 
cation '  of  the  Proceedings  be  left  wholly  with  the 
Executive  .Committee,  with  instructions  that  at  least 
six  numbers  be  issued  annually. 

The  meeting  was  then  adjourned  from  the  re- 
ception room  to  Salisbury  hall,  where  an  audience 
nearly  filling  the  :hall  was  in  waiting  to  listen  to 
President  Crane's  lecture  entitled,  "An  Overland 
Trip  to  California  in  the  Year  1860."  More  than 
fifty  stereopticon  views  were  exhibited  illustrating 
the  vehicles  used  on  the  trip,  together  with  their 
outfit,  and  the  marvelous  landscape  scenery  to  be 
found  on  the  journey. 


An  Overland  Trip  to  California.  367; 

AN  OVERLAND  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA 
IN  THE  YEAR  1860. 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

You  no  doubt  are  all  familiar  with  the  history  of  Cali- 
fornia, and  know  that  territory  was  once  in  the  possession 
of  Mexico,  and  that  through  the  fortunes  and  misfortunes 
of  war  the  United  States  became  the  possessor  in  February, 
1848,  of  this  land  of*  then  untold  and  undeveloped  wealth. 

While  the  American  colonies  were  struggling  for  their, 
independence  in  1776,  some  of  the  Fathers  of  St.  Francis 
established  a  Catholic  mission,  called  Mission  Dolores.  It 
'was  the  first  white  settlement  at  San  Francisco.  These 
Franciscan  Fathers  established  other  missions  along  the 
Pacific  coast  south  of  San  Francisco,  and  during  the  fifty 
years  they,  with  the  consent  of  the  native  Indians,  enjoyed 
a  free  run  of  the  Pacific  slopes,  accumulated  a  vast  amount 
of  wealth,  estimated  at  many  millions  of  dollars,  including 
horses,  sheep,  cattle,  hogs,  coin  and  bullion.  At  tne  down- 
fall of  the  Spanish  rule  in  Mexico,  these  missions  began  to 
decline,  and  at  last  were  abandoned  by  the  priests,  and  the 
property  was  confiscated  in  the  year  1845. 

The  excellent  climate,  fertile  soil,  and  glitter  of  its  gold 
and  silver  soon  attracted  the  attention  of  adventurers  in 
various  parts  of  the  country,  and  people  began  to  find  their 
way  into  this  El  Dorado. 

Commodore  Jones  of  the  United  States  Navy,  in  Octo- 
ber, 1842,  believing  that  hostilities  were  in  progress  be- 
tween Mexico  and  his  home  government,  sailed  into  the 
harbor  of  Monterey,  captured  the  fort,  hoisted  the  stars 
and  stripes,  and  declared  California  a  territory  of  the 
United  States. 

Commodore  Jones  was  nearly  four  years  ahead  of  time. 
Undoubtedly  his  wish  was  father  of  his  thought.  He  found 
the  next  day  that  war  did  not  exist  between  the  two 
countries,  hauled  down  the  flag,  and  apologized  to  the  Mexi- 


368  Proceedings. 

can  authorities  for  his  conduct.  Here  was  one  instance 
where  the  United  States  flag  was  hauled  down  after  having 
been  hoisted  over  conquered  territory,  but  it  was  where  the 
declaration  of  possession  was  too  hastily  made.  On  July 
7,  1846,  possession  was  again  taken  in  behalf  of  the  United 
States,  this  time  by  Commodore  Sloat,  and  in  less  than  two 
years  from  this  date  reports  of  the  finding  of  gold  there 
caused  a  vast  number  of  fortune-seekers  to  immigrate  to 
that  country.  Some  went  by  vessel  around  Cape  Horn, 
others  by  way  of  the  Isthmus1  of  Panama  (the  Nicaragua 
route  being  perhaps  the  chief  one).  A  considerable  num- 
ber, however,  found  their  way  across  the  country,  traveling 
with  private  teams.  The  year  1849  *s  memorable  in  the 
history  of  California  as  the  advent  of  the  mining  popula- 
tion. In  1850  the  population  of  the  state  was  92,600.  In 
1860,  the  year  your  speaker  visited  the  state,  it  was  380,000; 
the  increase  has  been  at  the  rate  of  200,000  to  300,000 
every  ten  years. 

It  is  a  common  saying  that  the  old  49~er  is  invariably 
poor.  A  very  small  per  cent,  of  those  who  went  expecting 
to  become  rich,  lived  to  enjoy  that  result  of  their  labors. 

Having  decided  on  our  journey,  we  shall  proceed  to  pre- 
pare for  the  start.  Lightness  and  durability  must  ever  be 
in  mind  while  selecting  the  outfit.  Every  pound  in  weight 
saved  is  of  the  greatest  importance.  With  no  repair  shops 
at  convenient  intervals  along  the  route,  strength  of  mate- 
rials in  the  construction  of  the  outfit  is  also  a  prominent 
factor  to  be  considered.  A  well-made,  strongly-ironed, 
one-horse  wagon  is  purchased,  the  reach  lengthened  to  ap- 
propriately carry  a  body  of  about  twelve  feet  in  length.  This 
body  is  carefully  put  together,  made  as  nearly  water  tight 
as  it  conveniently  can  be,  so  that  if  occasion  requires,  it 
may  be  used  as  a  boat.  The  sides  of  the  body  are  about 
one  foot  in  depth,  and  supplied  with  tool-boxes  on  either 
side  about  midway  from  each  end ;  also  another  box  inside 
and  across  the  iront  end,  the  cover  seeing  as  a  seat  for 


An  Overland  Trip  to  California.  369 

the  driver  when  no  better  one  is  provided.  To  the  sides 
(and  overarching  the  body)  a  set  of  wooden  bows  is  at- 
tached, over  which  is  drawn  a  canvas  cover  to  furnish  pro- 
tection from  the  hot  sun  and  the  rain.  With  a  brake  of 
sulticient  strength  to  hold  the  hind  wheels  from  turning 
and  a  pole  with  fixtures  for  attaching  four  horses,  we  have 
our  wagon  in  readiness.  Three  or  four  sets  of  shoes  for 
each  horse  must  be  stored  in  the  tool-boxes,  with  hammer, 
nails,  and  the  proper  tools  for  shaping  their  hoofs;  a  few 
pairs  of  bits  and  extra  straps  to  provide  for  breakage  of 
harness ;  a  coil  of  25  or  30  feet  of  %  rope  with  1 8-inch  iron 
pin  attached,  for  each  horse;  a  few  draft-chains,  and  an 
extra  king-bolt  or  two,  will  give  a  fair  equipment  for  that 
portion  of  our  outfit. 

As  food  for  our  animals  can  be  obtained  along  the  route 
for  the  first  few  hundred  miles,  it  is  not  necessary  to  load 
the  wagons  with  flour,  cornmeal  and  oats  until  about  to 
take  final  leave  of  the  settlements.  We,  however,  provide 
three  dozen  two-bushel  bags  and  a  half  dozen  twelve-quart 
tin  pails  for  use  when  needed.  For  a  trunk  we  use  a  two- 
bushel  bag,  and  place  in  it  as  little  wearing  apparel  as  our 
judgment  will  suggest  for  the  journey. 

With  a  supply  of  common  remedies  to  be  used  in  case  of 
sickness  of  man  or  beast,  we  are  perhaps  ready  to  make 
the  start.  As  a  body-guard  the  writer  had  one  rifle,  a 
double-barreled  shotgun,  a  Colt's  revolver,  with  a  generous 
supply  of  powder  and  lead,  also  a  sheath-knife. 

You  may  be  interested  to  know  what  our  menu  was  on 
this  journey:  bread,  bacon,  beans,  molasses  and  coffee. 
Bread  was  baked  in  a  baking-kettle  covered  with  hot  coals 
and  ashes,  baking-powder  being  used  in  place  of  yeast. 
Fat  from  fried  bacon  was  a  substitute  for  butter ;  molasses 
served  for  both  sugar  and  milk  in  our  coffee.  The  beans 
were  stewed  in  a  tin  pail  hung  over  the  fire.  By  the  killing 
of  wild  game  we  occasionally  had  fresh  meat,  regaling 


'370 


Proceedings. 


ourselves  a  few  times  on  steaks  from  the  buffalo,  antelope 
and  the  grizzly  bear. 

There  are  more  or  less  dangers,  trials  and  incidents  at- 
tending such  a  trip :  dangers  from  sickness  of  man  or  beast 
caused  from  poisonous  food  and  drink  found  by  the  way- 
side. One  of  our  party,  careful  for  fear  he  should  receive 
harm  from  drinking  impure  water,  carrie'd  a  little  black 
pepper,  and  sprinkled  that  in  before  drinking  water  taken 
from  the  roadside.  Although  he  lived  to  complete  the 
trip,  he  died  within  a  few  years;  whether  from  the  effects 
of  the  pepper  or  water  I  never  knew.  Dangers  from  In- 
dian depredations,  and  from  stampeding  of  horses.  The 
latter  are  perhaps  as  much  to  be  dreaded  as  either  of  the 
other  causes  cited.  To  see  your  horses  galloping  out  of 
your  sight  in  the  direction  of  home,  the  run  only  to  end 
when  the  animal's  strength  has  become  exhausted,  is  not  a 
scene  pleasant  to  contemplate. 

Some  of  the  trials  to  contend  with  are  petty  jealousies 
and  quarrels;  men  get  tired,  and  rough,  out-of-door  life 
tends  to  lower  the  standard  of  citizenship.  I  knew  a  man 
who,  after  the  passage  of  a  few  hot  words  over  the  bring- 
ing of  a  basin  of  water  in  which  to  wash  his  hands,  drew  his 
knife  and  killed  his  assailant  on  the  spot.  This  man  was 
courtmarshaled  and  drummed  out  of  camp,  left  to  seek 
other  company  or  starve. 

Our  first  stampede  occurred  while  camped  a  few  miles 
west  of  Omaha.  We  were  educating  our  horses  to  the 
picket  rope.  Each  horse  was  fastened  by  a  twenty-five 
foot  rope,  one  end  about  his  neck,  the  other  end  attached  to 
an  iron  pin  driven  in  the  ground.  As  our  animals  were  of  a 
very  lively  disposition,  it  was  amusing  to  see  them  go 
through  their  various  evolutions,  running  from  one  side 
to  the  other  as  far  as  the  rope  would  allow,  sometimes 
coming  to  a  short  stop,  landing  on  their  heads,  at  others 
getting  wound  up  with  the  rope  about  their  legs,  requiring 
some  one  to  release  them.  After  a  few  days'  watching  to 


An  Overland  Trip  to  California.  371 

help  them  out  of  their  difficulties,  they  learned  the  ropes 
and  kept  out  of  trouble. 

It  was  in  the  edge  of  evening  when  our  attention  was 
called  to  an  unusual  activity  among  the  horses,  and  before 
we  could  quiet  them  ten  out  of  the  thirteen  succeeded  in 
drawing  the  iron  pins  and  starting  for  Omaha  at  the  top 
of  their  speed.  We  had  the  consolation  that  it  was  not 
many  miles  to  the  bank  of  the  Missouri  river,  and  that 
would  probably  prove  a  serious  barrier  to  further  progress 
homeward:  The  writer  was  not  long  in  mounting  one  of 
the  remaining  horses,  and  started  in  pursuit  of  the  run- 
aways. On  through  Omaha  (then  a  place  of  but  a  few 
thousand  inhabitants)  the  horses  were  traced,  and  down  to 
the  river-bank,  where  they  turned  to  the  right  down  the 
stream.  It.  was  getting  dark;  and  the,  footprints  in  the 
sand  could  no  longer'  be  seen,  but  pursuit  was  continued 
and  after  riding  a' few  miles  further  came;  to  a  thicket  of 
willows.  The  frequent  neighing  of  the  horse  under  saddle 
(his  mate  being  among  the  runaways)  was  at  last  answered, 
and  forcing  a  passage  into  the  thicket,  found -two  of  our 
animals  completely  wound  up  among  the  willows  by  the 
long  ropes  they  had  been  dragging  throughout -their  mad 
run.  A  free  use  of  the  knife  soon  liberated  them.  Dark- 
ness preventing  further  search: at  this  time, -I  again  mount- 
ed my  horse,  and  with  a  runaway  'on  each  side;  started  for 
the  return  to.  camp.  .  Finding  one  animal  did  not  care  to 
be  led,  I  applied  in  gentle' form  a  willow  switch.  At  the 
very  first  stroke,  I  found,  myself  dragged  from  my  horse, 
and  going  through  the  brush  at  a  rapid  rate,  wound  up  in 
the  coil  of  rope  I  had  put  on  my  saddle.  The  thick  willows, 
however,  prevented  the  horse*  from  dragging  the  saddle 
and  rider  a  great  distance.  When  the  halt  was  made, 
found  some  severe  bruises,  and; as  a  consequence  was  quite 
lame  for  two  or  three  weeks. 

After  mending  the  broken  girth  to  the  saddle,  to  show 
my  friendly  feeling  for  the  headstrong  animal,  placed: the 


3/2  Proceedings. 

saddle  on  her  back,  and  reached  camp  little  before  mid- 
night. Early  the  following  morning  the  search  was  con- 
tinued, with  the  result  that  the  other  eight  animals  were 
found  about  seven  miles  further  down  the  river  than  the 
patch  of  willows  visited  the  night  before. 

Our  journey  of  something  more  than  2,000  miles  in 
length  carries  us  across  (as  the  map  shows  to-day)  seven 
states :  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  Nebraska,  Wyoming,  Utah, 
Nevada  and  California.  In  1860  it  was  three  states  and 
three  territories,  Nebraska,  Utah  and  Nevada  being  then 
territories.  We  cross  the  Mississippi  river  by  ferry  at 
Dubuque  and  the  Missouri  river  at  Omaha.  The  pictures 
given  to  illustrate  this  journey  were  not  taken  at  the  time  it 
was  made.  The  kodak  was  not  in  common  use  then. 
They  have  been  selected,  however,  to  properly  represent 
the  general  scenery  of  that  region  of  country. 

It  is  impossible  to  express  in  words  the  beauty  and 
grandeur  of  the  scenery  to  be  found  in  that  western  coun- 
try. It  must  be  seen  to  be  fully  appreciated.  Through 
Wisconsin  and  Iowa  the  gently-rolling  surface,  dotted  here 
and  there  with  groves  of  timber,  fertile  prairies  and  clear, 
running  streams,  give  sufficient  variety  of  landscape  to  in- 
terest the  traveler.  As  you  traverse  the  western  portion  of 
Iowa  and  draw  near  the  Missouri  river,  you  find  more  of 
prairie  and  less  of  timber.  After  leaving  the  Missouri 
river,  proceeding  up  the  Platte  river,  you  soon  lose  sight 
of  trees  altogether.  The  trail  we  are  to  follow  extends 
along  the  bottom  lands,  bordering  this  river  about  500  miles. 
To  the  north  and  the  south  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach 
are  seen  gracefully  rolling  grassy  hills  where  roam  the 
buffalo,  antelope,  elk  and  the  coyote.  Here  also  may  be 
found  the  sage-hen,  jack-rabbit  and  prairie-dog.  The  latter 
have  their  villages,  living  in  their  underground  houses  in 
company  with  snakes,  owls,  etc. 

This  Platte  river  valley  was  at  some  early  period  covered 
with  water,  forming-  a  very  wide  stream  or  great  lake. 


An  Overland  Trip  to  California.  373 

The  water-line  was  easily  traced  along  the  hills  on  either 
side  as  we  made  our  way  westward.  Sage-brush  and 
grease-wood  are  about  the  only  shrubs  to  be  seen  for  hun- 
dreds of  miles.  The  stalk  of  the  former  in  looks  resembles 
the  grape-vine.  It  seldom  grows  more  than  five  feet  in 
length,  usually  in  clusters,  forming  a  tangled  mass  upon 
the  ground,  and  standing  up  not  more  than  four  feet  high, 
size  of  the  stalk  not  more  than  two  inches  in  diameter. 
The  grease-wood  grows  more  slender  and  straight,  reach- 
ing two  to  five  feet  in  height.  You  will  therefore  under- 
stand that  fuel  was  extremely  scarce.  After  reaching  the 
Black  Hills,  fuel  is  more  plenty,  although  very  little  timber 
came  within  our  view  before  reaching  the  Sierra  Nevada 
mountains. 

The  5th  day  of  June  we  took  leave  of  Omaha,  and  in  the 
afternoon  experienced  the  severest  storm  it  has  been  the 
writer's  fortune  to  witness.  One  wagon  was  capsized  by 
the  wind  while  traveling  in  front  of  us,  and  when  hailstones 
the  size  of  marbles  and  even  up  to  hens'  eggs  came,  our 
horses  wheeled  from  the  road  and  ran  with  the  storm  across 
the  smooth  prairie  at  a  rapid  rate.  Coming  to  a  ravine  we 
were  able  to  quiet  them,  and  by  holding  our  blankets  over 
them  they  stood  quietly  while  we  were  drenched  in  the  rain 
that  came  like  a  cloud-burst  over  us.  Not  until  evening 
did  our  fifteen  men  with  their  five  wagons  and  thirty-seven 
horses  come  together  again,  so  widely  were  they  scattered 
by  the  storm.  On  account  of  wet  clothing  the  writer  bur- 
rowed for  the  night  in  a  hay-loft.  Four  days  later  we 
reached  Loop  Fork,  a  tributary  of  the  Platte,  which  we 
crossed  by  a  ferry.  Here  we  found  a  village  of  the  Pawnee 
Indians.  They  being  anxious  to  sell  their  wares,  our  cook, 
Mr.  Frost,  on  being  told  they  asked  two  bits  for  a  pair  of 
moccasins,  went  rummaging  in  the  tool-box  for  bridle  bits 
with  which  to  purchase  a  pair,  not  knowing  that  their  two 
bits  meant  two  shillings, — a  joke  he  remembered  for  some 
time  after  we  let  him  try  to  make  the  purchase. 


374  Proceeding  s. 

On  coming  to  Wood  river  the  recent  rains  had. so.  filled 
the  river-banks  we  found  the  bridges  carried  away.;  compell- 
ing us  to  ferry  over  our  supplies  in  one  of  "our;,  wagon- 
bodies,  a  long  rope  being  attached  to  each  end  of  .the  .b'octy, 
and  by  that  means  drawing  it  back  and  forth  across  the 
stream.  Saturday,  the  i6th  of  June,  we  arrived  .  at  ••  the 
fording  place  on  the  Platte  river  opposite  Fort  Kearney. 
As  many  of  our  party  had  ordered  their  mail  directed -to 
that  post  office,  there  was  a  strong  desire  to  visit  the  place; 
but  the  spring  freshet  was  on,  and  the  government  stage 
had  not  been  able  to  cross  for  a  week.  We  thought  of  our 
friends  at  home,  and  felt  sure  we  should  find  some  word 
from  them  could  we  reach  the  post  office.  Charles  Garrett 
and  the  writer  volunteered  to  make  the  attempt.  Saddling 
two  of  the  tallest  horses,  we  mounted  them,  and  after  cross- 
ing ten  channels,  the  most  of  them  deep  enough  to  cause 
'our  horses  to  swim,  we  arrived  at  the  fort,  found  a  gener- 
ous-supply of  mail-matter,  which  we  carried  back  over  the 
ford-  to  the  eager  ones  waiting  10  hear  from  home. 
.  The  following  day  about  noon  we  espied  a  small  herd 
of  buffalo.  Three  of  the  fleetest  horseo  in  the  party  were 
saddled,  and  Godfrey,  Hart  and  the  writer  gave  chase.  For 
seme  reason 'Godfrey  did  not  follow  up  when  the  buffalo 
began  to  run,  which  they  proceeded  to  do  as  soon  as  they 
saw  us.  Mr.  Hart,  being  on  a  horse  trained  for  running, 
soon  overhauled  the  bison  he  singled  out,  and  poured  a 
broadside  from  his  revolver  into  the  animal,  which  he  car- 
ried off  seemingly  unhurt.  Mr.  Hart  reloaded  his  revol- 
ver and  continued  the  chase. 

The  third  party,  with  rifle  in  hand,  ran  his  horse  up  to  a 
fine  specimen,  and,  finding  a  deep  slough  obstructing  his 
passage,  dismounted  and  tried  to  get  a  shot,  but  the  fright- 
ened horse  demanded  so  much  attention  that  the  buffalo 
was  out  of  range  before  the  horse  could  be  quieted.  Again 
the  rider  mounted  his  horse  and  followed  the  herd  for  sev- 
eral miles  into  the  hills.  But  the  great,  clumsy-gaited 


An  Overland  Trip  to  California.  375 

buffalo  in  the  long  run  can  outdistance  the  horse.  It  is 
only  on  a  quick  dash  that  the  horse  is  able  to  cope  with 
them  for  speed.  After  we  had  enjoyed  our  run,  and  given 
our  game  a  little  lively  exercise,  returning  to  the  road, 
came  upon  friend  Hart  at  a  little  stream  bathing  the  neck 
of  his  horse.  "I  have  accidentally  shot  this  horse,"  he 
said  as  the  writer  rode  up.  A  careful  examination  dis- 
closed only  a  flesh  wound  across  the  top  of  the  neck,  and 
with  the  solemn  promise  that  neither  of  us  should  refer  to 
it  until  further  developments,  we  made  our  way  back  to 
the  train,  which  we  overtook  about  sundown. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  chase  the  writer's  hat 
disappeared,  and  the  blazing  sun  made  severe  work  with 
the  upper  portion  of  his  face,  causing  no  little  discomfort 
for  many  days. 

Thursday,  June  21,  in  the  forenoon  we  espied  objects  ap- 
proaching from  the  west.  They  proved  to  be  about  400 
Sioux  Indian  braves,  all  mounted  on  fleet  ponies,  and 
decked  in  their  war-paint  and  feathers.  •  We  breathed  more 
freely  when  we  learned  they  were  not  after  our  fifteen 
scalps,  but  were  on  their  way  to  punish  the  Pawnees  for 
raids  that  tribe  had  been  making  on  their  horses  and  cat- 
tle. We  kept  on  our  way  while  they  passed  us,  with  all  the 
pomp  and  stateliness  of  a  regiment  of  United  States  Regu- 
lars. In  their  dress  they  were  not  confined  to  regulation 
uniforms.  They  wore  nearly  every  style  conceivable.  Es- 
pecially prominent  were  samples  of  uniforms  once  worn  by 
our  United  States  soldiers  of  almost  every  rank. 

About  sunset  we  met  the  rear  guard  of  this  army,  com- 
posed of  the  squaws,  the  elderly  and  youngest  of  the  party. 
Some  of  them  were  fine  specimens  of  the  Indian  type.  An 
elderly  woman  attracted  attention  on  account  of  the  elabo- 
rate dress  she  wore,  made  of  buckskin  tanned  white,' and 
beautifully  embroidered  with  various  colored  beads.  She 
was  wife  of  a  chief.  Whether  the  presence  of  Indians  in 
the  vicinity  had  anything  to  do  with  the  circumstance  or 


376  Proceedings. 

not  I  cannot  say,  but  a  short  time  before  meeting  this  war 
party  we  were  startled  from  our  slumbers  about  midnight 
by  the  unwelcome  sound  of  our  horses  rushing  by  our 
wagons  in  a  mad  stampede.  Thirty  out  of  the  thirty-seven 
horses  attempted  to  show  us  their  heels.  All  hands  were 
out  in  a  moment ;  three  of  the  remaining  horses  were  sad- 
dled, and  Danforth,  King  and  the  writer  followed  in  pur- 
suit. The  rain  was  falling  in  torrents.  The  only  light  by 
which  we  could  follow  the  trail  was  from  the  flash  of  light- 
ning that  came  at  intervals.  Many  times  we  were  obliged 
to  dismount  and  feel  with  our  hands  to  find  the  track  our 
wheels  passed  over  the  day  before.  After  a  ride  of  twenty- 
five  miles  we  overtook  the  runaways  at  daylight  and  re- 
turned to  camp  with  them. 

Two  weeks  later,  just  at  evening,  seven  of  our  lively 
horses  tried  the  same  feat  and  accomplished  more  than 
they  set  out  for.  Six  only  were  recovered ;  one,  a  fine  ani- 
mal, ran  into  the  Platte  river  and  was  drowned.  That  ex- 
perience seemed  to  have  its  effect  on  the  animals,  for  we 
had  no  more  stampedes  of  any  significance  during  the  re- 
mainder of  the  journey. 

Castle  Rocks,  a  curiosity  well  worth  a  passing  glance, 
stood  at  the  right  of  the  road  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Platte.  June  2/th  we  came  in  sight  of  Chimney  Rock,  a 
great  natural  curiosity.  Carved  from  solid  rock  by  action 
of  the  elements,  it  stood  there  about  50  feet  square  at  the 
base,  30  feet  square  at  the  top  and  275  feet  high  (50  feet 
higher  than  Bunker  Hill  Monument).  It  was  composed  of 
sandstone  and  stood  on  the  south  side  of  the  Platte  about 
three-fourths  of  a  mile  back  from  the  river  bank.  The 
writer  visited  it  in  company  with  Mr.  Frost,  and  our  names 
were  carved  at  the  base  of  the  shaft  by  the  side  of  hun- 
dreds of  other  names. 

On  reaching  Fort  Laramie,  we  crossed  to  the  south  side 
of  the  Platte  on  the  ferry.  One  of  our  party,  who  had  seen 
service  as  cavalryman  in  the  Crimean  War,  asked  the  privi- 


An  Overland  Trip  to  California.  377 

lege  of  swimming  one  of  the  horses  across,  suggesting 
that  the  other  horses  could  be  driven  in  behind  him  and 
they  would  follow  across,  thus  saving  several  dollars  of 
toll  money.  The  stream  at  this  point  was  very  deep  and 
the  current  swift.  The  loose  horses  were  driven  up  to 
the  landing  ready  for  the  start,  and  our  plucky  English- 
man mounted  a  horse  and  started  in.  When  a  few  rods 
from  shore,  from  holding  too  tight  a  rein,  the  horse 
careened  over  backward,  causing  the  Englishman  to  slide 
off;  and  losing  his  hold  on  the  animal,  and  not  being  able 
to  swim,  was  left  in  a  most  precarious  condition,  and  soon 
called  loudly  for  help.  One  of  the  Indians,  watching  the 
performance,  ran  to  the  bank  and  threw  out  the  end  of  his 
lariat,  but  it  was  not  long  enough  to  reach  the  drowning 
man.  There  was  a  sharp  turn  in  the  current  just  below 
the  ferry,  and  to  that  point  we  rushed,  and  there  he  was 
rescued,  not,  however,  until  he  had  given  himself  up  for 
lost. 

Our  course  was  now  through  the  Black  Hills,  in  the  direc- 
tion of  South  Pass.  Devil's  Gate  is  a  fine  natural  curiosity, 
standing  at  the  north  of  the  road  about  five  miles  distant. 
On  examining  Independence  Rock,  we  found  among  the 
names  cut  in  the  rock  that  of  John  C.  Fremont,  dated  1842, 
and  again  in  1845.  Sighting  some  mountain  sheep,  the 
writer  took  down  his  rifle,  and  began  to  climb  for  them. 
After  plodding  for  an  hour,  found  that  they  were  watching 
closely  and  moving  off,  keeping  the  distance  good  between 
us.  Not  being  able  to  bring  them  within  range,  returned 
to  the  wagons,  believing  mountain  sheep  are  very  cunning 
and  not  easily  captured. 

For  nearly  five  hundred  miles  from  Fort  Laramie  to  Salt 
Lake  City,  we  were  shut  in  by  mountains,  and  surrounded 
by  barren  rocks  and  alkali  beds,  many  places  showing  signs 
of,  at  some  time,  great  volcanic  action.  Here  and  there 
were  verdant  spots  to  refresh  the  jaded  traveler  and  his  still 
more  tired  and  jaded  horses. 


3  7  8  Proceeding  s. 

The  grand  canyons  through  which  we  found  our  way,' 
cut  through  lofty  ledges  of  solid  rock  by  action  of  mighty 
waters  or  volcanic  upheavals,  commanded  our  wonder  and-' 
admiration,  while  the  grandeur  and  stateliness  of  the  mighty 
peaks  towering  amid  the  clouds  above  our  heads  filled  us 
with  bewilderment  as  we  gazed  at  the  marvelous  wonders 
of  creation. 

Many  if  not  all  of  you 'have,  at  some  time,  witnessed 
what  would  be  termed  severe,  and  perhaps  terrific  thunder- 
scorms ;  but  to  get  the  best  effect  of  such  a  storm,  you  need 
to  be  engulfed  in  the  cloud  itself.  At  a  height  of  over 
7,700  feet  above  the  sea,  while  traveling  in  the  midst  of  the 
clouds,  shut  in  on  either  side  with'high  mountains,  we  wit- 
nessed one  of  those  grand  displays.  To  be  sure,  the  roar 
of  the  peals  of  thunder  was  almost  deafening,  but  to  see 
the  electricity  all  about -you,  darting  over  the  ground  like 
so  many  huge  snakes,  was  indeed  an,  interesting  sight.  All 
felt  more  at  ease  after  the  excitement  was  over. 

After  going  through  South  Pass,  we  came  to  Simpson's 
Hollow,  where  we  found  cinders  and  old  irons,  all  that  was 
left  of  the  seventy  government  wagons  captured  and  burned 
by  the  Mormons  two  years  before. 

For  a  number  of  years  prior  to  1858,  the  Mormons  in 
Utah  had  come  to  believe  they  were  the  supreme  authority 
there,  and  almost  openly  defied  the  government  authorities. 
That  terrible  slaughter  known  as  the  Mountain  Meadow 
Massacre,  1857,  caused  drastic  measures  to  be  introduced  by 
the  United  States  government  to  remind  the  Mormon  lead- 
ers of  their  allegiance  to  the  territorial  laws.  Government 
troops  were  sent  out  to  enforce  these  laws,  and  the  Mor- 
mons organized  their  army  to  oppose  them.  The  capture 
and  burning  of  this  train  of  seventy  wagons  were  one  result 
of  the  severe  tension  of  the  time. 

The  Mormons  fortified  Echo  canyon,  where  they  ex- 
pected to  meet  and  annihilate  the  United  States  troops 
before  they  should  reach  Salt  Lake  City. 


An  Overland  Trip  to  California.  379- 

This  canyon  is  one  of  the  finest  natural  curiosities  to  be 
seen  on  the  journey.  It  is  twenty-two  miles  long,  with 
Echo  creek  running  through  its  entire  length.  Perpen- 
dicular rocks  line  both  sides  nearly  all  the  distance,  and  in 
places  extending  hundreds  of  feet  in  height.  The  road 
down  through  the  canyon  runs  most  of  the  way  in  the  bed 
of  the  creek,  crossing  it  seventeen  times  in  going  the 
twenty-two  miles. 

.  .The  strata  of  these  .perpendicular  rocks  lining  the  sides 
are  composed  of  various  colored  sandstone,  in  which  the 
action  of  frost  and  rain  has  carved  out  beautiful  specimens 
of  pinnacles/  domes,  and  turrets.  With  the  sunlight  stream- 
ing upon  them,  they  at  times  present  a  sight  of  rare  beauty. 
,  As  we  ..descended  the  mountain  leading  to  the  eastern 
entrance  to  :the:  canyon,  .a,  short  distance  from  the  trail  at 
the  right  we  found -a  cache/  a'room  ten  or  twelve  feet  in 
diameter,  cut  out  of  the  rock  by  Indians,  in  which  to  store 
their  supplies. 

Passing  on  through. the  canyon,  .we  came  to  the  ovens 
used  by  the  Mormons -in  baking  bread  for  their  army  while 
the  place  was  "fortified  by  them.  Atone  side  of  this  narrow 
passageway  they. thre,w;Up  a  ,-high -embankment  of  earth  and 
rock  to  check  'the  progress  of  the  United  States  army  in 
that  narrow  defile,  and'  .at  -the.  proper  signal  the  Mormons 
had  arranged  to  roll  .down  vast  quantities  of  rocks  collected 
on  the  summit  of  the -overhanging  ledges,  and  thus  crush 
out  the  life  of  our  government  soldiers.  Many  cords  of 
those  rocks  were  to  be  seen  piled  up  ready  for  use.  : 

After  fording  Green  river,  we  turned  through  Parley's 
Park,  and  on  over  the  summit  that  separated  us  from  the 
valley  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake. 

On  reaching  the  westerly  side  of  this  park,  finding  excel- 
lent feed  for  our  horses,  we  remained  in  camp  three  days, 
improving  the  time  by  calling  on  William  Kimball,  son  of  a 
prominent  Mormon  of  that  name,  who  owned  a  large  ranch 
here. 


380  Proceedings. 

Never  can  I  forget  the  thrill  of  delight  that  came  over 
me  as  we  stood  upon  the  last  summit  that  separated  us 
from  the  valley  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake.  For  weeks  we  had 
been  traveling  through  deep  valleys  and  canyons,  with 
high  peaks  all  about  us,  our  vision  comparatively  shut  in, 
except  skyward,  when  early  one  morning  we  began  to  climb 
this  mountain-ridge  that  stood  across  our  pathway  to  the 
great  Mormon  city.  All  day  we  plodded  on,  walking  by 
our  wagons  to  relieve  the  tired  animals  as  they  labored 
under  their  heavy  loads.  On  and  up  we  went,  only  stop- 
ping for  a  brief  rest  at  the  noon  hour,  then  pushing  forward, 
thinking  as  we  passed  over  each  rise  that  there  could  be 
but  one  more  to  climb ;  but  one  and  another  came  looming 
up  before  us,  when  at  last,  about  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
we  reached  the  summit.  For  a  moment  all  in  the  party 
were  speechless  at  the  enchanting  scene  presented  to  their 
view.  The  next  moment  hats  went  whirling  in  the  air ; 
their  voices  rang  with  joy  as  they  locked  out  upon  the 
beautiful  panorama  at  their  feet.  Across  the  valley  twenty 
miles  away  stood  the  range  of  mountains  that  formed  the 
barrier  on  the  west.  To  the  south,  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach,  were  the  placid  waters  of  Utah  lake,  with  its  surface 
glistening  in  the  sunlight ;  away  to  the  north  could  be  seen 
the  Great  Salt  Lake,  and  winding  down  through  the  valley 
below  like  a  huge  serpent,  and  connecting  these  two  bodies 
of  water,  was  the  river  Jordan,  along  whose  banks  could  be 
seen  numerous  herds  of  cattle  and  horses  feeding  upon  the 
rich  carpet  of  green  that  was  spread  out  before  us.  In  the 
right-hand  corner  of  the  picture,  resting  between  the  waters 
of  Salt  Lake  and  the  foot  of  the  snow-capped  mountain, 
stood  the  city  of  the  Latter-Day  Saints,  the  long-looked-for 
resting-place  for  weary  men  and  jaded  horses. 

Thus  far  so  little  trouble  from  outside  influences  had 
come  to  our  notice  that  we  began  to  believe  that  our  com- 
pany of  fifteen  men  could  face  almost  any  like  undertaking. 
But  the  reports  that  came  from  officers  of  the  United  States 


An  Overland  Trip  to  California.  381 

army,  then  conducting  a  sharp  campaign  against  the  war- 
like Indians  west  of  Salt  Lake,  led  us  to  remain  here  about 
three  weeks,  for  the  purpose  of  recruiting  our  horses  and 
accumulating  the  proper  number  of  men  for  self-protection 
through  the  Indian  country  we  must  pass. 

At  last  we  decided  to  go  by  Simpson's  cut-off,  a  route 
then  recently  explored  by  Lieut.  James  H.  Simpson,  U.S.A., 
and  traveled  by  the  Pony  Express,  and  our  original  com- 
pany of  fifteen  again  took  up  the  march,  and  after  traveling 
four  days,  halted  for  the  others  to  come  up  and  complete 
the  contemplated  organization. 

One  evening,  while  camped  at  the  foot  of  a  mountain, 
the  horses  were  given  their  liberty  to  grope  about  for  feed, 
and  being  stationed  some  little  distance  from  the  wagons, 
the  writer  was  left  to  watch  them  while  the  rest  of  the  men 
went  down  to  the  wagons  for  supper.  Darkness  was 
slowly  creeping  over  the  sides  of  the  mountain,  yet  it  was 
light  enough  to  faintly  distinguish  several  horses  moving 
off  in  a  direction  that  convinced  the  writer  that  they  were  not 
feeding,  and  on  investigation  found  three  Indians  making 
off  with  four  horses.  Two  well-directed  shots  from  a  Colt's 
revolver  saved  three  of  the  horses,  the  Indians  leaving  them, 
and  pushing  on  up  the  mountain  with  the  other  one,  ex- 
changing shots  as  they  went.  The  firing  had  signaled  the 
men  at  the  camp,  who  quickly  came  to  render  their  services. 
But  it  being  too  dark  to  follow  the  trail  of  the  stolen  horse, 
we  concluded  to  wait  until  morning,  when  we  would  pursue 
the  robbers.  Several  times  during  the  night,  by  the  light 
of  the  moon,  Indians  were  seen  skulking  about  the  camp, 
but  at  a  safe  distance  away.  At  early  morning  light,  we 
found  the  tracks  of  our  missing  horse,  and  followed  over 
the  mountain,  down  the  other  side  through  the  bed  of  a 
small  stream,  and  on  several  miles.  Coming  to  an  Indian 
camp  we  reconnoitred  and  estimated  75  to  100  Indians 
there.  Believing  discretion  the  better  part  of  valor,  the 
four  pursuers  returned  tu  their  camp  for  recruits,  intending 


382  Proceedings. 

to  return  and  storm  the  Indian  camp  unless  our  stolen 
horse  was  given  up.  About  the  middle  of  the  afternoon, 
greatly  to  our  astonishment,  an  Indian  came  riding  into 
our  camp  leading  the  stolen  horse,  which  he,  the  chief, 
came  to  return.  We  rewarded  him  for  his  kindness,  as  we 
were  glad  to  end  the  matter  so  easily. 

Our  company  soon  assembled,  giving  us  thirty-eight 
men,  fourteen  wagons  and  about  sixty  horses.  We  elected 
Mr.  Woodside  captain.  He  was  a  delegate  from  Oregon  to 
the  National  Convention  that  nominated  Abraham  Lincoln 
for  the  Presidency  that  year,  and  on  his  way  home.  He 
was  an  experienced  frontiers-man,  and  we  were  glad  to 
secure  his  services.  We  were  also  joined  here  by  "Billy" 
Rogers,  United  States  Indian  agent  for  the  Shawshonee 
tribe,  who  had  been  escorted  through  the  hostile  Indian 
country  on  his  way  to  Salt  Lake  by  United  States  soldiers, 
and  was  now  returning  to  his  tribe  in  Ruby  valley  and 
wished  to  travel  with  us. 

Six  days  out  from  Salt  Lake  City,  during  our  noon  hour 
in  Tooele  valley,  three  armed  men  came  riding  through 
our  drove  of  horses  and  mules  as  they  were  feeding.  Com- 
ing up  to  the  wagons  the  spokesman  of  the  party  claimed 
a  certain  pair  of  mules,  to  which  he  pointed.  The  owner 
stepped  forward  to  learn  from  the  visitor,  who  stated  he 
was  a  sheriff,  and  there  to  take  possession  of  those  mules ; 
that  they  had  been  stolen  from  one  of  the  three  visitors. 
The  mules  were  examined,  and  sure  enough  the  private 
mark  he  described  was  on  them.  The  man,  who  had  just 
joined  our  company,  said  he  purchased  those  mules  at 
Omaha  of  a  man  claiming  to  be  a  nephew  of  Brig- 
ham  Young,  and  had  traveled  thus  far  from  the 
Missouri  river  with  them,  and  felt  that  he  was  the 
rightful  owner.  The  sheriff  replied  he  would  have  to  take 
possession  of  the  mules,  and  our  friend  could  go  before  the 
court  and  let  that  tribunal  decide  the  case.  Our  men  held 
consultation,  and  concluded  if  we  resisted  the  sheriff  some 


An  Overland  Trip  to  California.  383 

one  of  the  party  would  be  likely  to  get  severely  hurt,  per- 
haps killed.  As  the  traveler  was  a  stranger  to  us,  it  would 
be  best  for  him  to  go  to  the  courts  with  his  case,  although 
many  of  us  were  convinced  in  our  own  minds  that  the  un- 
fortunate man  would  never  have  possession  of  his  mules 
again,  and  our  heartfelt  sympathy  followed  him  as  he 
passed  out  of  our  sight  on  his  way  to  Tooele  (the  county 
seat)  in  company  with  the  sheriff  and  his  deputies.  We 
never  heard  from  our  friend  afterward,  although  we  were 
told  that  such  cases  came  up  quite  often;  that  horses, 
mules  and  cattle  were  taken  down  to  the  Missouri  river, 
sold  to  or  exchanged  with  people  going  to  California,  and 
when  arriving  at  Salt  Lake  the  animals  were  claimed  as 
stolen  property.  Of  course  the  courts  must  hold  the  prop- 
erty on  the  evidence. 

Sept.  4  we  came  to  the  Great  American  Desert,  forty- 
five  miles  without  feed  or  water.  Started  to  cross  it  at  six 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  carrying  what  water  and  fresL  grass 
we  could  for  the  horses ;  when  half  way  over  gave  each  ani- 
mal his  allowance  of  water,  with  a  pint  of  flour  stirred 
into  it,  accompanying  it  with  a  few  mouthfuls  of  grass. 
The  stop  was  very  short  indeed.  Pushing  on,  reached  the 
opposite  side  about  four  o'clock  the  following  afternoon. 

We  now  found  ourselves  in  the  centre  of  Indian  hostili- 
ties. Obliged  to  travel  through  the  daytime  with  a  guard 
posted  each  side  of  our  train  ready  for  an  attack  any 
moment.  United  States  soldiers  were  patrolling  the  coun- 
try, driving  the  Indians  back  from  the  track  of  the  Pony 
Express.  Collisions  with  them  were  frequent.  Indian 
signal-fires  could  be  seen  every  night,  and  as  at  that  time 
a  double  guard  was  required,  each  man  in  the  company 
was  obliged  to  serve  every  other  night,  and  remember  well 
what  a  difficult  task  at  times  it  was  to  keep  awake. 

Antelope  and  Egan  canyons  were  given  us  as  extreme- 
ly dangerous  places  to  pass  through ;  but  the  United  States 
soldiers  kept  the  Indians  so  thoroughly  occupied  that  we 


384  Proceedings. 

escaped  unmolested,  reaching  William  Rogers'  ranch  in 
Ruby  valley  September  I4th,  and  out  of  the  way  of  the 
hostiles. 

Mr.  Rogers  was  in  charge  of  a  large  tribe  known  as 
Shawshonee  Indians,  with  headquarters  in  this  valley.  He 
gave  us  an  exhibition  of  Indians  shooting  and  capturing 
wild  steers,  giving  the  whole  Indian  camp  a  treat  to  an 
extra  ration  of  fresh  beef  in  honor  of  our  visit.  From 
here  we  pushed  on,  coming  to  another  desert,  about  thirty- 
five  miles  in  width.  This  we  crossed  during  the  night  of 
Sept.  29th.  Reaching  the  Carson  river,  we  followed  that 
some  distance,  when  we  came  to  Fort  Churchill,  a  new 
outpost  in  Nevada,  then  being  erected  for  protection  of  the 
mining  settlements  that  were  then  fast  developing.  Vir- 
ginia City  at  this  time  was  only  a  cluster  of  cloth  tents. 
Carson  City  could  boast  of  several  wooden  structures  one 
story  in  height.  We  went  sight-seeing  one  evening  in  Car- 
son City.  Passing  along  the  street,  hearing  strains  of 
music,  we  went  into  a  large  room.  At  one  side  of  the  en- 
trance was  a  well-stocked  bar;  across  the  rear  end  of  the 
room  was  a  platform  on  which  the  musicians  were  sta- 
tioned; the  remaining  portion  of  the  room  was  taken  up 
with  small  tables,  at  which  gamblers  were  seated  trying 
their  luck  at  cards.  Knives  and  pistols  were  in  evidence 
everywhere.  While  we  were  enjoying  the  music,  some 
gambler  drew  his  weapon  to  settle  a  dispute,  when  the  order 
was  instantly  given :  "All  lights  out ;  every  one  remain  still ; 
and  don't  shoot !"  The  proprietor  soon  quieted  the  parties, 
and  lights  were  turned  on.  Thinking  our  services  were  not 
needed  there  any  longer,  we  withdrew,  that  the  gamblers 
might  have  the  room  to  themselves.  There  was  a  dead 
man  lying  in  front  of  that  place  in  the  morning. 

Five  days'  travel  from  Carson  City  carried  us  over  the 
Sierra  Nevada  mountains  to  Placerville,  or  Hangtown  as 
it  was  sometimes  called. 

After  toiling  over  a  very  dusty  road   two  more  days,  we 


An  Overland  Trip  to  California.  385 

came  in  sight  of  the  city  of  Sacramento,  the  end  of  our 
carriage  drive  of  the  year  1860. 

If  you  will  bear  with  me  a  little  longer,  will  close  the 
entertainment  by  relating  my  experience  in  quicksand. 

In  November,  1861,  California  suffered  severely  from 
disastrous  floods.  There  had  been  a  heavy  fall  of  snow  in 
the  mountains;  in  places  it  reached  nearly  as  high  as  the 
top  of  the  telegraph  poles,  and  when  the  rainy  season  began 
floods  of  water  went  sweeping  over  the  lowlands.  The 
north  fork  of  the  American  river  rose  fifty-five  feet. 

The  city  of  Sacramento  stands  at  the  junction  of  the 
American  and  Sacramento  rivers.  Both  these  streams 
overflowed  their  banks.  The  country  for  miles  around  was 
covered  like  a  great  lake.  The  up-river  steamboats  made 
trips  across  the  country,  rescuing  people  from  their  houses, 
carrying  them  to  high  land  for  safety.  One  of  these  steam- 
boats was  caught  when  the  water  suddenly  subsided,  in  a 
garden  on  the  easterly  side  of  Sacramento,  and  remained 
there  for  more  than  two -months.  In  portions  of  the  city 
houses  were  lifted  from  their  foundations,  and  some  of  the 
smaller  ones  capsized  by  the  weight  of  their  chimneys. 
Had  this  flood  reached  Sacramento  in  the  night-time,  there 
would  have  been  great  loss  of  life,  but  it  appeared  about 
seven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  warning  was  given  as  the 
water  came  rolling  over  the  country,  carrying  fences  and 
small  outbuildings  in  its  folds  as  it  crept  along.  The  writer 
was  boarding  at  a  hotel  on  K  street,  rooming  on  the  first 
floor.  The  warning  soon  came  to  move  up  onto  the  second 
floor.  Hastily  hanging  my  traveling  bag  with  its  contents 
on  a  big  nail  driven  in  the  wall  near  the  ceiling,  I  made  my 
way  up  stairs,  and  taking  a  seat  at  the  window  watched  the 
mad  rushing  waters  as  they  swept  down  the  street,  carrying 
wagons,  carts,  henhouses,  and  almost  every  conceivable 
thing  that  would  float.  Small  boats  were  at  a  premium. 
At  first  all  attention  was  given  to  saving  men,  women  and 
children ;  then  the  cattle  and  horses  were  looked  after. 


386  Proceedings. 

Having  two  horses  in  a  stable  near  the  hotel,  I  finally  suc- 
ceeded in  hiring  a  boat  to  go  to  their  rescue.  Found  them 
three  feet  deep  in  water.  With  a  man  to  row,  I,  from  the 
stern  of  the  boat,  led  them  out  one  at  a  time,  swimming 
them  around  three  blocks  onto  I  street,  where  they  could 
stand  out  of  water.  There  I  took  care  of  them  several  days 
and  nights,  when  they  were  removed  out  of  the  city  and 
given  better  accommodations.  It  was  not  possible  to  go 
outside  the  house  without  a  boat,  so  sent  to  San  Francisco 
by  steamer  for  lumber  to  make  one  twenty  feet  long,  with 
three  sets  of  row-locks,  and  soon  had  it  ready  for  use,  doing 
a  vast  amount  of  work  with  it  transporting  passengers  and 
freight.  The  railroad  trains  could  not  come  within  two 
and  a  half  or  three  miles  of  the  city,  and  we  occasionally 
ran  our  boat  out  to  bring  in  passengers.  On  one  of  these 
trips  we  attempted  to  get  further  up  the  channel  and  save 
a  portion  of  the  walk  for  the  passengers.  The  water  was 
disappearing,  three  months  having  passed  since  the  flood 
came,  bringing  with  it  the  wash  of  innumerable  mining 
camps,  leaving  the  water  thick  with  a  sediment  that  appeared 
as  a  quicksand  after  the  water  had  drained  off.  In  the  sub- 
merged houses  this  sediment  left  a  deposit  from  one  to  five 
feet  in  depth  on  the  first  floors,  ana  out  in  the  open  fields 
it  filled  up  all  the  low  spots,  leaving  to  appearance  a  level  or 
even  surface. 

The  writer,  in  attempting  to  cross  one  of  these  level 
fields  to  reach  the  train  of  cars,  chanced  to  pass  over  a  low 
spot  that  had  been  filled  with  this  quicksand.  It  was  a  per- 
fect trap,  for  its  surface  looked  dry  and  hard.  Being  sup- 
plied with  long  rubber  boots,  I  tripped  along,  hurrying  over 
a  few  soft  places,  thinking  soon  it  would  come  harder,  or  I 
should  reach  solid  ground.  Finally  exhausted  in  the  strug- 
gle to  extricate  my  feet  from  the  mud,  I  stopped  to  rest, 
while  the  downward  motion  continued  more  rapidly  after 
breaking  through  the  crust.  Finding,  after  going  down 
two  feet,  that  I  was  still  settling,  I  began  to  struggle  to  lift 


An  Overland  Trip  to  California.  387 

myself  out,  but  the  more  I  tried  that,  the  faster  I  went 
down.  At  a  house  near  by  a  woman  appeared  at  the  win- 
dow. Seeing  me,  she  spoke  to  her  husband,  who  came  to 
the  door  and  asked  how  I  came  there.  I  told  him,  and 
asked  how  deep  it  was.  He  said  nine  feet ;  I  suggested 
that  he  pull  off  boards  from  a  fence  near  by  and  lay  them 
out  to  me,  that  I  might  place  my  hand  on  them  and  lift 
myself  out.  After  a  feeble  attempt,  as  the  boards  sank  in 
with  him,  he  abandoned  the  job,  and  went  back  into  the 
house.  By  this  time  I  was  down  to  my  waist,  with  the 
foundations  still  settling.  My  presence  at  the  train  had 
been  missed,  and  my  friend,  who  came  in  the  boat  with  me, 
began  to  look  for  me,  and  came  around  the  corner  of  this 
house  just  at  the  desirable  moment.  I  at  once  called  his 
attention  to  those  boards  on  the  fence,  and  in  less  time 
than  it  takes  to  tell  it,  he  laid  them  out  on  the  quicksand  to 
me,  and  with  one  on  each  side  to  lift  upon,  I  pulled  myself 
out,  not,  however,  without  severe  effort,  from  which 
strain  it  took  many  weeks  to  recover.  In  this  experience 
I  learned  a  lesson.  Whenever  you  get  into  deep  quicksand, 
straighten  out  upon  your  back  and  roll  off.  You  may  soil 
your  clothes,  but  save  your  life. 


388  Proceedings. 


358th  Meeting. 

Tuesday  evening,  April  2,  1901. 

President  Crane  in  the  chair. 

Others  present:  Messrs.  Arnold,  Bancroft,  Dick- 
inson, Davidson,  Darling,  Ely,  C.  B.  Eaton,  W.  G. 
Forbes,  Gould,  Geer,  C.  G.  Harrington,  George 
Maynard,  M.  A.  Maynard,  H.  G.  Otis,  Paine,  Geo. 
M.  Rice,  Salisbury,  C.  E.  Staples,  Stiles,  Saxe,  L.  A. 
Taylor,  Williamson,  Mrs.  Barrett,  Mrs.  Chenoweth, 
Mrs.  Darling,  Miss  May,  Miss  Agnes  Waite,  Miss 
A.  M.  White,  and  a  long  list  of  visitors. 

Librarian  reported  following  additions  during 
the  past  month:  16  bound  volumes,  31  pamphlets, 
38  papers,  and  1 1  miscellaneous  articles. 

Owen  W.  Mills,  a  teacher  of  Millbury,  Mass., 
proposed  by  Charles  A.  Geer,  was  elected  to  active 
membership  on  recommendation  of  the  Standing 
Committee  on  Nominations. 

M.  A.  Maynard  called  attention  to  the  proposed 
change  in  the  By-Laws  of  the  Society,  recommend- 
ed by  the  Executive  Committee,  stating  that  it 
meant  a  return  to  the  more  simple  rules  under 
which  the  Society  had  been  governed  during  the 
greater  portion  of  its  existence.  On  motion  of 
George  Maynard  it  was  voted  to  leave  the  matter  in 
the  hands  of  the  Executive  Committee  with  instruc- 
tions to  report  at  some  future  meeting.  Ex-Repre- 
sentative George  M.  Rice  was  then  introduced  and 
read  the  following  paper,  entitled  : 


Gold:  Its  Distribution,  Identification,  Etc.          389 

GOLD:    ITS    DISTRIBUTION,    IDENTIFICATION, 
AND  METALLURGY. 

From  the  earliest  times  in  the  history  of  the  world,  gold 
above  all  other  metals  known  to  man  has  been  the  one 
most  prized  and  sought  for,  and  as  a  consequence,  it  has 
become  so  interwoven  in  the  monetary  systems  of  nations 
as  a  standard  or  measure  of  values  that  it  is  as  necessary 
for  our  happiness  and  well-being  as  any  other  article  that 
enters  into  our  daily  life. 

It  is  presumable  that,  before  civilization  began,  gold, 
although  known,  was  not  especially  prized;  for  barbarous 
nations  down  to  quite  recent  times  having  quantities  of  it 
in  their  possession  were  willing  to  part  with  it  in  exchange 
for  almost  any  trifle ;  iron,  in  their  estimation  for  instance, 
having  a  far  greater  value;  as  that  metal  could  be  put  to 
practical  uses  in  their  domestic  affairs,  and  was  conse- 
quently greatly  prized  by  such  people,  while  gold  was  of  no 
special  use  to  them,  except  possibly  for  personal  adorn- 
ment. 

We  smile  at  what  we  call  the  innocence  of  the  savages 
in  preferring  iron  to  gold;  but  they  were  right  from  their 
standpoint  at  least,  their  flint  or  shell  knives  and  arrow 
heads  being  of  little  value  as  compared  to  the  keen  cutting 
qualities  of  properly  made  steel  implements ;  and  although 
iron  ore  was  plentiful  enough  about  them,  they  knew  of  no 
way  to  extract  the  metal,  while  gold  could  be  had  for  the 
gathering. 

We  of  to-day  would  find  gold  to  be  a  very  sorry  substi- 
tute, indeed,  for  iron,  as  it  is  lacking  in  nearly  all  the  quali- 
ties which  have  made  that  metal  such  a  factor  in  civilization 
and  the  arts,  as  well  as  conserving  to  our  daily  wants  in 
such  a  multiplicity  of  ways  as  it  does. 

Gold  is  one  of  the  few  metals  that  occur  native,  which 
fact,  together  with  its  bright  yellow  color  and  great  weight, 


390  Proceedings. 

were  the  peculiar  characteristics  which  probably  first  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  man. 

It  is  common  with  us  as  a  comparison,  when  we  wish  to 
express  the  idea  of  weight,  to  say  that  it  is  as  heavy  as  lead, 
and  a  comparison  of  the  weight  of  that  metal  with  gold 
may  not  be  uninteresting. 

A  cubic  foot  of  lead  weighs  709  pounds,  while  a  similar 
cube  of  gold  weighs  1,203  pounds,  a  difference  of  494 
pounds,  so  that  if  it  required  four  men  to  carry  the  cube  of 
lead  up  a  flight  of  stairs,  it  would  take  seven  men  to  per- 
form the  same  service  for  the  gold  cube. 

A  cubic  foot  of  gold,  as  before  stated,  weighs  1,203 
pounds,  or  17,543  75-100  ounces,  Troy,  which  at  the  mint 
value  of  $20.67  Per  ounce,  amounts  to  $361,613.81.  A 
cubic  foot  of  wrought  iron  weighs  480  pounds ;  its  value  at 
$30.00  per  ton  would  be  $7.20,  showing  the  relative  money 
value  of  equal  bulks  of  the  two  metals. 

Gold,  contrary  to  the  generally  accepted  idea,  is  one  of 
the  most  widely  distributed  metals ;  it  being  found  in  all 
sections  of  the  earth  where  the  crystalline  rocks  prevail, 
although  generally  in  minute  quantities.  In  certain  strata 
of  rock,  it  is  present  in  larger  quantities  than  it  is  in  others. 
Magnesian  rocks  seem  to  hold  it  in  greater  degree  than 
other  kinds,  particularly  that  variety  known  as  talcose  slate, 
although  it  may  be,  and  is  found,  in  the  upper  and  more  re- 
cent series  of  rocks;  instances  being  known  where  gold  is 
mined  successfully  in  limestone,  King's  Mountain  mine 
in  North  Carolina  being  an  example. 

Quartz,  in  greater  or  less  quantity,  is  invariably  present 
in  ores  carrying  gold.  This  quartz  may  be  pure  and  crys- 
talline, enclosing  the  gold,  or  mineralized  in  such  way  that 
quartz  goes  to  make  up  one  of  the  component  parts  of  the 
ore,  which  is  generally  the  case;  quartz  alone  seldom  car- 
rying gold  in  paying  quantities. 

While  something  like  67  per  cent,  of  the  gold  mined  in 


Gold:  Its  Distribution,  Identification,  Etc.          391 

the  world  to-day  is  gained  from  ores  proper,  requiring  a 
milling  or  smelting  process  to  extract  the  metal,  the  major 
portion  of  the  gold  now  in  possession  cf  the  people  of  the 
world  has  been  won  from  the  sands  and  gravels,  which  are 
but  the  broken  down  and  comminuted  fragments  of  what 
were  once  solid  rocks.  That  stanza  in  the  old  Missionary 
Hymn  that  says,  "Where  Afric's  sunny  fountains  roll  down 
their  golden  sands,"  is  no  figure  of  speech  or  poetic  fancy, 
but  a  literal  matter  of  fact.  Gold  is  almost  invariably 
present  in  river  sands  in  some  part  of  its  course,  although 
it  may  not  occur  in  quantity  sufficient  to  pay  for  working. 

The  speaker  saw,  in  Denver,  Col.,  in  1892,  an  amusing 
instance  of  mining  river  sands;  under  the  guise  of  placer 
mining,  claims  had  been  located  on  Cherry  creek,  a  branch 
of  the  South  Platte  river,  which  flows  through  a  section  of 
that  city,  and  a  regular  system  of  dredging  and  gold  saving 
apparatus  installed;  the  object  of  the  dredging,  however, 
was  not  for  the  gold  recovered,  but  the  sand  which  was 
used  for  building  purposes,  and  in  this  particular  location 
was  valuable.  Enough  gold  was  sometimes  secured  to 
pay  part  of  the  cost  of  the  coal  consumed  under  the  boil- 
ers, and  as  the  claims  could  be  held  under  the  United 
States  Laws,  and  sufficient  gold  actually  gained  to  meet 
the  requirements  of  the  Statutes,  no  one  could  molest 
them,  although  sand  was  the  real  value  sought  for,  and  not 
the  gold,  its  value  being  insignificant  in  comparison. 

The  sands  on  our  seacoasts  contain  gold,  and  in  some 
places  sea  sands  are  worked  for  it ;  notably  on  the  beaches 
of  northern  California,  Oregon,  Washington,  and  more 
recently  Alaska.  In  New  Zealand  the  workers  in  this  va- 
riety of  gold  digging  are  called  "beach  combers,"  and  are 
looked  upon  as  an  inferior  class  by  other  miners. 

I  will  say  in  passing  that  tests  made  on  sands  collected 
from  certain  parts  of  Nantasket  beach  gave  a  value  of  5  to 
15  cents  per  ton  in  gold,  which  is  not  enough  to  make 


392  Proceedings. 

them  of  economic  importance,  but  interesting  fiom  a  scien- 
tific standpoint. 

It  may  be  stated  that  all  clays  belonging  to  the  older 
geological  regions  of  the  earth,  contain  gold,  but  seldom  in 
sufficient  quantities  to  pay  for  its  extraction. 

Tests  have  been  made  of  the  clays  that  are  common  in 
this  vicinity.  The  clay  thrown  out  in  excavating  for  the 
cellar  and  foundations  of  the  State  Mutual  Life  Insurance 
Company's  building  in  this  city  gave  in  one  pound  of  dried 
clay  free  from  gravel  and  sand  i-io  milligram  of  gold 
equal  to  12.6  cents  per  ton,  or,  in  other  words,  about  25 
cents'  worth  of  gold  went  out  in  each  two-horse  load  of 
"hardpan"  or  clay  excavated. 

Sea  water  also  contains  gold,  as  well  as  other  metals,  in 
appreciable  amount ;  it  being  determined  by  a  long  series 
of  researches  and  experiments  that  each  ton  of  sea  water 
contains  5  milligrams  of  gold  (about  1-13  part  of  a  grain) 
and  20  milligrams  of  silver,  having  together  a  money  value 
of  a  little  more  than  37-100  of  a  cent,  an  amount  quite  in- 
significant in  itself,  but  stupendous  when  the  total  cubic 
miles  of  sea  water  are  taken  into  consideration.  For 
illustration,  a  cubic  mile  of  sea  water  contains  147,197,- 
952,000  cubic  feet,  which,  at  64.3  pounds  per  foot,  equals 
9,464,828,313,600  pounds,  or  4,732,414,156.8  tons,  having  in 
solution  760,752  77-100  ounces  of  gold,  which  at  a  valua- 
tion of  $20.67  Per  ounce,  would  amount  to  $15,724,754.86, 
and  of  silver  3,043,011  13-100  ounces,  which  valued  at  65 
cents  per  ounce,  would  be  $1,977,957.22,  or  a  total  value 
for  both  metals  of  $17,702,717.08,  and  given  in  round  num- 
bers more  than  26  tons  of  gold,  and  104.  tons  of  silver  are 
in  each  cubic  mile  of  sea  water. 

It  has  been  stated  by  scientists  that  if  the  floor  of  the 
ocean  was  a  dead  level,  its  waters  would  cover  the  entire 
surface  of  the  earth  to  a  depth  of  two  miles.  What  a  gold 
and  what  a  silver  mine,  then,  we  have  in  the  sea,  if  it  were 


Gold:  Its  Distribution,  Identification,  Etc.          393 

possible  to  gather  its  glittering  wealth  into  one  solid  mass. 
Insignificant,  indeed,  would  be  the  accumulated  wealth  of 
gold  and  silver  in  the  world  in  comparison.  No  practical 
way,  however,  has  as  yet  been  devised  for  its  extraction, 
although  frequently  attempted. 

Oftentimes  people  find  what  they  believe  to  be  gold, 
and  great  expectations  are  sometimes  indulged  in  as  a  con- 
sequence thereof.  A  few  simple  tests  that  can  be  per- 
formed by  any  novice  may  be  of  service  in  such  cases. 

Two  substances  occur  that  are  commonly  mistaken  for 
gold,  namely,  scales  of  yellow  mica,  and  sulphuret  of  iron, 
sometimes  called  "fool's  gold." 

In  testing  the  first  substance  the  great  weight  of  gold 
affords  a  ready  and  conclusive  test.  Place  a  quantity  of 
the  suspected  matter  in  the  bottom  of  a  clear  glass  tumbler 
and  fill  with  water;  stir  it  vigorously  and  watch  the  order 
of  the  settling  of  its  contents ;  if  gold  is  present  it  will  drop 
at  once  to  the  bottom  of  the  glass  and  remain  there;  the 
gravel,  sand  or  other  heavy  matters  then  fall,  and  lastly 
the  scales  of  mica,  which  being  lighter  than  any  of  the 
other  minerals,  are  the  last  to  sink  to  the  bottom  of  the 
glass ;  their  very  light  weight  thus  proving  that  they  are 
not  gold. 

Several  instances  have  occurred  in  our  own  immediate 
vicinity  where  yellow  mica  has  occasioned  short-lived 
"gold"  excitements;  notably  in  Spencer,  Brookfield,  and 
more  recently  in  Dudley;  this  variety  of  mica  occurring 
abundantly  in  the  rocks  common  in  the  localities  named. 

If  sulphuret  of  iron,  or  so-called  "fool's  gold,"  is  the  sub- 
stance to  be  tested,  then  the  extreme  malleability  of  gold 
constitutes  the  test.  Gold  will  flatten  out  by  being  pound- 
ed upon  an  anvil  with  a  hammer,  while  sulphuret  of  iron  — 
commonly  called  pyrites — by  the  same  treatment  will  crum- 
ble to  dust.  Therefore,  we  place  the  suspected  mineral  on 
an  anvil,  or  a  flat  stone,  if  nothing  better  is  at  hand,  and 


394  Proceedings. 

beat  it  with  a  hammer,  or  with  another  stone.  If  it  flat- 
tens out  and  does  not  crumble,  it  is  quite  likely  that  you 
have  gold,  although  copper  sometimes  occurs  native  and 
might,  under  some  circumstances,  be  mistaken  for  gold  in 
this  test. 

If  the  substance  tested  in  this  manner  pulverizes  easily 
you  may  be  sure  that  it  is  not  gold,  although  it  may  contain 
gold  that  is  disguised  or  mineralized;  in  which  case  it 
could  only  be  detected  by  an  assay.  If  not  satisfied  fully 
by  the  crushing  test,  throw  a  portion  of  the  powder  into  a 
fire;  if  it  burns  with  the  characteristic  blue  flame  of  sul- 
phur, and  gives  off  the  familiar  sulphurous  odor,  the  test 
is  a  complete  demonstration  that  the  substance  is  not  gold. 
Other  tests  might  be  mentioned,  such  as  boiling  in  nitric 
acid;  dissolving  in  aqua-regia,  chlorine  water,  etc.;  all  of 
which  require  some  experience  in  such  matters  and  will 
not  be  dwelt  upon. 

All  native  gold  contains  a  percentage  of  silver  which  is 
sometimes  present  in  such  quantity  as  to  lower  the  value 
to  $12.00  or  less  per  ounce.  $16.00  to  $18.00,  however,  is 
the  average  value  of  gulch  or  placer  gold ;  the  value  varies 
to  a  considerable  extent  according  to  the  location  where 
the  metal  is  found.  In  some  districts  as  high  as  $20.00  per 
ounce  is  a  fair  value,  and  in  other  districts  as  low  a  value 
as  $10.00,  or  less. 

Alluvial  gold  is  won  by  washing  the  sands  and  gravels  of 
ancient  or  present  river  beds;  which  may  be  by  panning, 
cradling,  ground  sluicing,  sluicing  proper,  or  hydraulicking. 
The  typical  California  miner  of  '49  did  his  mining  with  the 
pick  and  shovel,  and  washed  out  his  gold  with  a  pan,  which 
was  very  similar  to  an  ordinary  milk-pan,  only  it  was  made 
of  sheet  iron  and  not  tinned;  having  found  what  he  calls 
"pay  gravel,"  he  fills  his  pan  and  carries  it  either  to  the 
river  bank  or  a  pool  of  water.  Placing  the  pan  and  its 
contents  just  under  the  water  he  violently  agitates  it,  hold- 


Gold:  Its  Distribution,  Identification,  Etc.          395 

ing  the  pan  at  an  acute  angle,  until  the  light  mud  and  sand 
are  floated  off;  he  then  throws  out  with  his  fingers  all  the 
coarse  stones,  and  by  a  peculiar  working  of  the  pan  under 
water,  floats  off  all  the  worthless  matter  except  a  quantity 
of  black  sand,  which  is  invariably  associated  with  gold,  and 
being  very  heavy  collects  with  it  in  the  angle  of  the  pan. 
This  black  sand  is  practically  magnetic  oxide  of  iron,  which 
is  separated  from  the  gold  dust  with  a  hand  magnet.  The 
coarse  gold  is  taken  out  and  the  fine  gold  subsequently 
collected  by  quicksilver.  This  manner  of  working  is  very 
slow  and  laborious.  Our  typical  miner  disdains  any- 
thing less  than  "ounce  diggins";  that  is,  his  day's  labor 
must  yield  him  an  ounce  of  gold. 

The  cradle  is  a  machine  very  much  like  the  old  wooden 
affairs  in  which  our  grandfathers  were  rocked,  except  that 
it  has  what  would  be  called  a  coal  sieve  at  the  upper  end, 
underneath  which  was  an  apron  set  at  an  angle  so  as  to 
deflect  the  water  and  its  burden  of  sand  to  the  upper  part  of 
the  floor  of  the  cradle.  Cleats  are  nailed  across  the  bottom 
to  retain  the  gold,  or  mercury.  The  cradle  is  set  at  a  slight 
grade  and  the  gravel  shoveled  into  the  sieve,  and  water 
poured  in  gradually  from  a  dipper;  the  cradle  meanwhile 
being  rocked  back  and  forth.  This  process  is  continued 
until  all  the  fine  material  has  been  washed  through  the 
sieve,  which  retains  the  coarse  stones,  etc.,  which  are  then 
thrown  out.  The  gold  is  collected  from  the  pockets  formed 
by  the  cleats  on  the  bottom  of  the  cradle,  or  as  amalgam, 
if  quicksilver  is  used.  This  cradle  process  requires  two  or 
more  persons  to  keep  in  continual  operation,  but  will  work 
many  times  the  amount  of  gravel  that  it  is  possible  to  work 
by  panning. 

"Sluicing"  consists  in  shoveling  the  gravel  into  a  trough 
constructed  of  boards,  usually  about  two  feet  wide  on  the 
bottom,  with  sides  about  ten  inches  high,  and  made  in  sec- 
tions some  ten  feet  long.  In  the  bottom  of  this  sluice  are 
constructed  what  are  known  as  "riffles,"  which  comprise  a 


396  Proceedings. 

grating  made  by  placing  two-inch  strips  of  board  on  edge 
lengthwise  of  the  sluice,  leaving  a  space  of  about  an  inch 
between  each  strip.  These  riffles  are  framed  together  by 
transverse  bars  so  that  they  can  be  easily  removed  when 
a  ''clean-up"  is  made.  The  sluice  is  set  at  a  sufficient 
gradd  so  that  when  a  stream  of  water  is  led  into  it,  stones 
as  large  as  a  man's  head  are  readily  washed  through.  The 
sluice  is  built  of  any  desired  length,  and  any  number  of 
men  may  shovel  gravel  into  it,  providing  the  supply  of 
water  is  sufficient  to  wash  the  gravel  and  keep  the  sluice 
clear  of  tailings.  The  gold  settles  down  into  the  spaces 
between  the  slats,  and  a  clean-up  is  made  by  removing  the 
riffles  and  panning  or  cradling  out  the  gold  from  the  sand ; 
mercury  is  sometimes  used  in  the  lower  run  of  boxes  to 
gather  the  fine  gold. 

Ground  sluicing  is  a  similar  process,  except  that  the 
ground  itself  makes  the  sides  and  "bed  rock"  the  floor  and 
riffles  of  the  sluice. 

Hydraulicking  is  that  process  where  a  stream  of  water  is 
piped  under  heavy  pressure  and  discharged  onto  the  gravel 
deposit,  which  is  moved  by  the  force  ef  the  water  alone. 
Ditches,  which  are  constructed  to  convey  the  water,  are 
sometimes  many  miles  in  length,  and  find  their  level  high 
on  the  sides  of  the  hills  at  the  place  where  used ;  a  head  of 
two  to  five  hundred  feet  not  being  uncommon.  The  water 
is  led  down  the  hill-side  through  wrought-iron  pipes  and 
discharged  from  a  nozzle  that  is  so  constructed  and  mounted 
that  it  can  be  deflected,  or  moved  in  any  direction,  and 
controlled  by  one  man.  The  force  of  the  water  issuing  un- 
der high  pressure  through  a  four-inch  nozzle  is  tremendous. 
The  gravel  banks  melt  away  under  this  torrent  like  snow 
beneath  a  summer  sun ,  even  the  very  hills  themselves  dis- 
appearing in  time  under  its  terrific  force.  The  gold  is 
saved  in  a  huge  sluice  of  great  length,  which  is  paved  with 
cobble-stones,  and  which  serves  the  same  purpose  as  the  rif- 
fles in  the  smaller  sluices  before  mentioned.  By  this  hy- 


Gold:  Its  Distribution,  Identification,  Etc.          397 

draulic  process,  large  areas  of  land  can  be  worked,  and 
poor  gravel  made  to  give  a  substantial  profit.  An  excep- 
tional case  that  may  be  mentioned,  is  one  where  gravel 
yielding  but  three  cents  per  cubic  yard  gave  a  dividend  to 
the  company  operating  the  mine ;  ten  cents  per  cubic  yard, 
however,  is  generally  considered  poor  ground. 

This  process  is  not  at  present  in  general  use  in  California, 
because  of  a  law  enacted  against  it,  as  the  tailings  or  slick- 
ings  made  by  washing  down  the  immense  areas  of  gravel 
were  fast  filling  up  the  river  beds,  covering  and  destroying 
thousands  of  acres  of  farm  lands  in  the  valleys  below  the 
mines,  and  making  general  havoc  throughout  the  state. 

Gold  is  also  mined  from  the  old  river,  beds  which  occur 
on  the  sides  of  the  present  valleys.  This  gravel  is  ex- 
tracted by  "drifting"  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  of  coal 
mining,  and  the  gold  washed  out  in  a  sluice ;  or  if  "cement- 
ed," as  it  sometimes  is,  crushed  and  amalgamated  in  a  mill. 

Much  gold  is  now  being  recovered  by  dredging  machines 
working  in  river  beds  and  areas  wholly  or  partly  covered 
by  water.  These  dredges  are  fitted  with  machinery  for 
washing  the  material  brought  up  by  the  dredging  buckets 
and  saving  the  gold.  This  form  of  gold  mining  is  increas- 
ing fast,  as  these  machines  have  been  so  perfected  that  they 
have  become  very  efficient,  and  pay  large  dividends  on  the 
capital  invested  if  located  on  proper  ground. 

Gold  ore  proper  is  quartz,  which  may  or  may  not  contain 
other  minerals,  and  is  found  in  veins  or  leads  inclosed  in 
other  rocks.  What  are  known  as  "contact  veins"  are 
usually  considered  the  best. 

A  contact  vein  is  one  that  is  bedded  between  two  kinds 
of  rock,  as,  for  instance,  slate  on  the  hanging  wall  and  gran- 
ite on  the  under-lay  or  foot  wall.  The  gold  is  not  distrib- 
uted equally  through  a  vein,  but  usually  follows  well-de- 
fined chutes  or  chimneys,  which  are  sometimes  so  exten- 
sive as  to  be  called  "bonanzas,"  but  outside  of  which  the 
ore  is  too  poor  to  pay  for  working.  If  the  gold  contained 


398  Proceeding  s. 

in  the  ore  is  "free,"  that  is,  capable  of  being  amalgamated  by 
mercury,  it  is  treated  by  what  is  known  as  the  mill  process. 
In  this  process,  the  ore  is  first  coarsely  crushed  in  a  rock 
breaker,  the  largest  pieces  of  which  are  about  the  size  of 
stove  coal,  and  then  fed  into  a  stamp  mill  which  contains 
five  ponderous  stamps,  or  pestles,  in  each  battery  or  set. 
These  stamps  weigh  from  700  to  1,000  pounds  each,  and 
are  lifted  by  cams  at  the  rate  of  80  or  more  drops  per  min- 
ute. They  fall  a  distance  of  about  8  inches.  Each  stamp 
drops  on  a  die  which  is  contained  in  a  coffer  or  mortar,  the 
mortar  having  one  or  more  open  sides,  in  which  screens  or 
gratings  are  placed.  The  screens  are  of  a  size  of  mesh 
suitable  for  the  ore  under  treatment,  usually  about  40,  or 
1, 600  holes  per  square  inch.  A  stream  of  water  is  led  into 
the  mortar  which  drives  the  ore,  when  crushed  fine  enough, 
through  the  screen,  by  the  splash  produced  by  the  fall  of 
the  stamp.  Outside  the  mortar,  a  copper  apron,  or  series 
of  plates  are  placed,  which  are  amalgamated  or  coated  with 
quicksilver,  and  over  which  the  crushed  ore,  together  with 
the  water,  is  conducted.  The  gold,  by  reason  of  its  weight, 
sinks  onto  the  plates;  combines  with  the  mercury  to  form 
an  amalgam,  and  is  retained  by  them. 

Other  appliances  are  used  to  trap  the  gold,  a  percentage 
of  which  escapes,  however,  in  the  tailings  or  waste.  After 
a  certain  amount  of  ore  has  been  crushed  in  the  mill,  de- 
pending on  its  richness,  the  stamps  are  hung  up,  the  amal- 
gam scraped  off  the  plates,  the  plates  re-coated  with  mer- 
cury, and  the  crushing,  etc.,  resumed  as  before.  The  amal- 
gam is  subsequently  distilled  in  an  iron  retort  to  recover 
the  mercury,  the  gold  being  left  in  the  retort  as  a  spongy 
mass,  which  is  removed,  melted  down  in  crucibles  with 
fluxes,  run  into  bars,  and  is  then  ready  for  market. 

If  the  ore,  being  milled,  contains  a  mixture  of  sulphurets, 
which  may  be  of  iron,  copper,  lead  or  other  metal,  the  ore 
is  crushed  and  amalgamated  as  before,  and  the  sulphurets 
contained  in  the  tailings  concentrated,  that  is,  separated 


Gold:  Its  Distribution,  Identification,  Etc.          399 

from  the  worthless  rock  by  special  machinery  constructed 
for  that  purpose.  The  concentrates  are  either  treated  on 
the  spot  by  chlorination,  or  sold  to  smelting  works.  These 
concentrates  are  many  times  richer  than  the  original  ore, 
but  require  a  special  treatment  to  extract  the  gold. 

If  treated  by  chlorination  the  concentrates  are  dried  and 
then  thrown  on  the  bed  of  a  roasting  furnace  and'  exposed 
to  the  combined  action  of  heat  and  air  until  all  the  sulphur 
is  burnt  off,  and  the  metals  oxidized  or  roasted  dead.  After 
it  has  cooled  it  is  then  slightly  moistened  with  water  and 
shoveled  into  tubs  capable  of  holding  three  tons  or  more. 
These  tubs  are  fitted  with  covers  which  are  luted  on  with  a 
dough  made  of  wheat  flour,  and  are  furnished  with  an  inlet 
at  the  bottom  and  an  outlet  through  the  cover.  Chlorine 
gas  is  then  generated  in  a  retort  and  conducted  up  through 
the  ore  in  the  tub,  until  the  chlorine  shows  by  test  at  the 
outlet,  which  is  then  closed  and  the  ore  allowed  to  lie  in  the 
gas  for  forty-eight  hours,  by  which  time  the  gold  is  con- 
verted into  a  chloride,  soluble  in  water.  The  covers  are 
then  removed  and  the  gold  leached  out  by  running  water 
through  the  ore  in  the  tubs,  then  precipitated  from  the 
water  by  a  solution  of  sulphate  of  iron,  or  copperas,  which 
throws  down  the  gold  as  a  brown  powder  or  precipitate. 
This  is  collected,  washed,  melted  down  in  crucibles  and 
cast  into  bars;  these  several  operations  constituting  what 
is  known  as  the  "Plattner  process,"  first  and  for  many  years 
used  in  this  country  in  California. 

In  a  later  and  more  improved  variation  of  this  process, 
the  roasted  ore  is  charged  into  a  lead-lined  barrel,  together 
with  a  quantity  of  chloride  of  lime  or  bleaching  powder. 
Water  is  added  in  sufficient  quantity  to  form  a  thin  pulp, 
together  with  enough  sulphuric  acid  to  more  than  decom- 
pose the  bleaching  powder.  The  barrel  is  quickly  closed 
up  and  revolved  for  three  or  four  hours,  when  the  gold  will 
be  found  dissolved  as  in  the  first  process.  The  contents  of 


4OO  Proceedings. 

the  barrel  are  then  discharged  onto  a  filter  bed  and  the  gold 
leached  out  and  precipitated  as  before. 

Another  method,  known  as  the  cyanide  process,  has 
lately  come  into  extensive  use  in  many  localities,  particu- 
larly for  the  extraction  of  the  gold  and  silver  still  remain- 
ing in  the  tailings  from  quartz  mills.  Briefly  stated,  in  this 
process  the  tailings  are  shoveled  into  iron  tanks  holding 
ten  tons  and  upwards,  and  the  gold  and  silver  leached  out 
by  a  solution  of  cyanide  of  potassium  containing  about 
.5  of  one  per  cent,  or  less  of  that  salt,  the  leach  being  ef- 
fected in  a  manner  similar  to  that  used  by  our  grandmothers 
in  leaching  ashes.  The  gold  and  silver  are  then  separated 
by  running  the  leach  solution  over  zinc  shavings,  on  which 
it  precipitates;  the  leach  liquor  being  brought  up  to  the 
proper  strength  by  adding  fresh  portions  of  the  cyanide 
salt,  and  in  this  manner  used  over  indefinitely.  Large 
amounts  of  gold  and  silver  are  now  recovered  by  this  pro- 
cess from  material  formerly  considered  worthless. 

When  gold  occurs  in  combination  with  massive  copper, 
or  lead  ore,  it  is  treated  by  smelting,  usually  in  blast  fur- 
naces. The  gold  and  silver  follow  the  copper  or  lead  in 
either  case.  The  method  employed  to  separate  the  gold 
and  silver  from  the  copper  is  known  as  the  electrolytic  pro- 
cess, which  not  only  affords  chemically  pure  copper,  now  so 
imperative  for  use  in  electrical  appliances,  but  also  saves 
every  atom  of  precious  metal  present  in  the  crude  copper. 
This  process  consists  in  subjecting  impure  copper,  cast  in 
the  form  of  plates,  to  the  action  of  a  current  of  electricity, 
the  plates  forming  the  annodes,  which  are  immersed  in  an 
acid  solution  of  sulphate  of  copper,  and  sheets  of  pure  cop- 
per forming  the  cathodes,  which  are  arranged  in  pairs  in 
a  series  of  vats.  On  passing  a  current  of  electricity  of 
proper  tension  through  this  arrangement,  the  copper  in  the 
annode  plates  is  gradually  dissolved  and  is  immediately  de- 
posited on  the  cathode  plates.  The  gold,  silver,  etc.,  which 


Gold:  Its  Distribution,  Identification,  Etc.         401 

in  this  instance  are  impurities,  are  not  soluble  in  the  men- 
strum  employed,  and  fall  to  the  bottom  of  the  vat  as  fine 
mud  or  precipitate,  which  is  gathered  from  time  to  time 
and  afterwards  refined.  Large  amounts  of  precious  metals 
are  gained  in  this  way  that  formerly  went  to  waste. 

If  the  ore  is  smelted  with  lead  ores,  so-called  "base  bul- 
lion" is  formed,  which  is  metallic  lead  alloyed  with  the  gold, 
silver  and  other  metals  occurring  in  the  ore,  and  reduced  by 
the  furnace  process. 

This  lead  is  melted  down  in  huge  kettles  holding  ten  tons 
or  more,  and  when  fluid  a  certain  percentage  of  pure  zinc 
is  added,  the  metal  being  thereafter  thoroughly  agitated  or 
stirred  up.  The  affinity  of  the  gold  and  silver  for  zinc  is 
greater,  than  it  is  for  lead  when  both  are  in  a  molten  con- 
dition, consequently  they  forsake  the  lead  to  combine  with 
the  zinc ;  and  when  the  fluid  metal  is  allowed  to  stand  and 
cool,  the  zinc  being  a  lighter  metal  than  lead  rises  on  the 
surface,  and  in  cooling  forms  a  crust  or  scum  which  con- 
tains practically  all  the  gold  and  silver.  This  crust  is 
skimmed  off  from  the  still  fluid  lead  and  subjected  to  a 
special  treatment  to  recover  the  contained  metals.  These 
crusts,  however,  contain  a  large  percentage  of  lead  mixed 
with  the  zinc  and  other  metals,  requiring  a  further  process 
to  separate  the  gold  and  silver.  The  lead  remaining  in  the 
kettle  is  separately  refined  and  cast  into  pigs  for  market. 
Cupellation  is  a  final  process,  where  lead  forms  the  major 
part  of  an  alloy.  This  process  is,  briefly,  melting  and  then 
oxidizing  and  slagging  off  the  lead  in  the  form  of  litharge 
on  the  hearth  of  a  peculiarly  constructed  reverberatory  fur- 
nace, until  nothing  but  gold  and  silver  remains  on  the  test 
or  hearth,  and  is  the  process  by  which  the  gold  and  silver 
are  refined  that  are  recovered  by'the  zinc  process  mentioned 
in  the  preceding  paragraph,  the  zinc  being  distilled  off  from 
the  alloy  metals  previous  to  cupellation. 

Thus  briefly  have  been  outlined  the  processes  most  in 
use  in  the  metallurgy  of  gold;  their  variations  ard  endless, 


402  Proceedings. 

and  are  multiplying  daily;  by  their  application  more  gold 
is  being  won  to-day  than  ever  before  in  the  history  of  the 
world,  and  as  a  consequence  mankind  is  advancing  rapid- 
ly in  every  department  of  human  knowledge,  and,  let  us 
hope,  in  those  attributes  which  make  him  more  Godlike 
and  better  fitted  for  the  life  to  come  hereafter. 

Mr.  Rice  placed  on  exhibition  a  fine  collection  of 
samples  of  ores  and  metals  to  illustrate  points  in  his 
paper,  among  which  were  samples  from  the  Old 
Silver  Mine  in  Worcester,  which  he  said  was  opened 
about  the  year  1750,  and  re-opened  fifteen  years 
ago,  when  the  ore  yielded  about  twenty- five  dollars 
per  ton  of  various  metals.  Considerable  interest  in 
the  subject  was  shown  by  the  various  questions  pre- 
sented to  and  answered  by  Mr.  Rice. 

Hon.  Stephen  Salisbury  was  then  introduced  and 
read  the  following  papers  prepared  by  Mrs.  E.  O. 
P.  Sturgis,  which  were  listened  to  with  great  inter- 
est, Mrs.  Sturgis  having  furnished  the  Society  with 
several  valuable  historical  reminiscences. 

OLD  WORCESTER.     I. 

The  Worcester  of  my  young  days  bore  little  resemblance 
to  the  city  of  to-day,  though  the  natural  features  are  the 
same,  but  buildings  have  covered  the  ground  so  entirely, 
that  the  marked  lines  of  the  hills  are  almost  obliterated.  It 
can  hardly  be  called  "The  City  of  the  Seven  Hills,"  but  it  is 
almost  entirely  built  on  hills,  or  their  sides.  Take  Lincoln 
street,  for  instance,  it  being  laid  out  on  the  western  decliv- 
ity of  "Millstone  Hill,"  the  water-shed  rising  high  up  on  the 
east,  and  the  hill  inclining  gradually  down  to  Lincoln 
square  on  the  south,  while  on  the  western  slope  the  descent 


Old  Worcester.     1.  403 

is  much  steeper,  making  a  sharp  incline  before  reaching 
the  valley.  Main  street,  too,  is  laid  out  on  the  side  of  a 
hill,  which  begins  at  Lincoln  square  and  rises  up,  by  a 
sharp  ascent  towards  the  west,  while  on  the  eastern  decliv- 
ity the  land  descends  to  the  valley,  and  from  thence  rising 
up  again  towards  the  east.  At  the  northern  and  southern 
extremities  of  Main  street  were  two  small  hills,  or  spurs 
of  the  main  elevation,  both  covered  with  buildings.  The 
northern  one  is  called  "Court  Hill"  and  a  flight  of  stone 
steps  as  well  as  a  steep  roadway  led  to  the  lower  Main 
street,  on  the  north,  while  on  the  south  side,  the  descent 
was  very  gradual,  until  it  joined  Main  street  proper.  On 
the  southern  eminence  there  were  no  steps,  but  the  ascent 
and  decline  were  similar  to  the  northern,  or  Court  Hill. 
On  both  hills  an  iron  fence  protected  the  pedestrian  from 
falling  into  the  street.  Main  street,  as  I  first  recall  it,  prac- 
tically began  and  ended  between  "The  Old  South  Meeting 
House"  and  the  "Salisbury  Mansion."  The  street  was 
broad  and  shaded  by  fine  old  elm  trees,  and  on  the  western 
side  was  lined  with  houses,  some  having  gardens  on  the 
front  and  some  in  the  rear  of  them.  A  few  shops  were  in- 
terspersed with  the  houses,  while  two  meeting  houses,  the 
"Unitarian"  and  the  "Orthodox,"  with  the  old  school-house 
and  the  "Court  House, "well  filled  up  that  side  of  the  street. 
The  eastern  side  also  had  houses  on  it,  and  most  of  them 
had  large  gardens  in  the  rear,  for  the  lay  of  the  land  was 
such  that  no  other  arrangement  was  possible.  All  the 
taverns  of  the  town  were  on  this  side,  and  there  were  more 
shops  than  on  the  opposite  one.  The  old  "Town  Hall" 
and  the  "Old  South  Meeting  House"  nearly  filled  up  the 
space  on  the  western  end  of  the  common.  Let  us  recall 
some  of  the  old  landmarks.  Those  whose  knowledge  of 
the  "Salisbury  Mansion"  is  derived  from  its  present  aspect 
and  surroundings  in  the  midst  of  steam  and  electric 
cars,  can  hardly  realize  what  its  appearance  was  in  the  old 
days.  This  stately  and  beautiful  house  was  built  in  1770, 


404  Proceedings. 

by  Mr.  Stephen  Salisbury,  the  grandfather  of  the  present 
owner,  and  occupied  by  him  until  his  death,  in  1829,  and 
subsequently  by  his  widow  and  their  only  child,  the  late 
Stephen  Salisbury.  The  only  occupant  of  the  house  ^fter 
the  marriage  of  her  son  was  "Madam  Salisbury/'  as  she 
was  always  styled,  whom  I  frequently  visited ;  and  I  recall 
distinctly  the  handsome  old  lady  in  the  southwest  parlor, 
which  was  her  favorite  room,  and  where  in  winter  was  al- 
ways burning  a  bright  wood  fire,  and  probably  this  house 
was  the  last  one  in  Worcester  where  the  man  servant  would 
bring  in  the  logs  of  wood  in  what  was  called  a  "leather 
apron,"  a  broad  strip  of  leather  with  handles  at  each  end. 
Mrs.  Salisbury  was  Miss  Elizabeth  Tuckerman,  a  member 
of  the  very  prominent  family  of  that  name  in  Boston,  and 
sister  of  Dr.  Joseph  Tuckerman,  the  noted  philanthropist, 
and  the  pioneer  of  the  "Home  Missionary"  movement, 
which  has  done  so  much  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the 
poor  in  large  cities.  The  house  faced  up  Main  street  and 
was  always  bathed  in  sunshine,  and  an  unobstructed  view 
was  had  of  its  whole  length.  There  was  a  lawn  in  front  of 
the  house  divided  by  a  stone  walk,  on  both  sides  of  which 
were  shrubs  and  trees.  On  the  east  side  of  the  house  were 
parlors,  from  the  windows  of  which  one  looked  out  on  a 
strip  of  lawn,  on  which  were  shrubs,  and  over  Salisbury's 
brook,  the  depth  and  width  of  which  were  regulated  by  the 
abundance  of  water,  or  the  reverse,  in  the  ponds  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  town ;  to  Lincoln  street,  a  green  field 
intervening  between  the  brook  and  the  street.  All  the  sur- 
roundings were  peaceful  and  quiet,  and  the  only  sound 
heard  was  the  lapping  of  the  water  against  the  stone  wall, 
which  prevented  the  ground  from  being  washed  away. 
On  the  western  side  of  the  house  the  view  was  of  green 
fields,  for  the  Antiquarian  Hall  was  not  yet  built  on  the 
site  where  it  now  is,  and  the  lawn  of  Mr.  Stephen  Salis- 
bury's house  reached  down  to  the  roadside.  There  was 
not  much  passing  on  the  west  side  of  the  house,  for  there 


Old  Worcester.     L  405 

were  only  a  few  scattered  farms  beyond  until  after  1836, 
and  then  when  the  Rural  Cemetery  was  completed,  long 
lines  of  carriages  passed  from  time  to  time  up  and  down 
this  roadway  bearing  often  friends  and  acquaintances  of 
the  occupant  of  this  house,  and  always  leaving  behind  them 
one  of  their  number  to  rest  with  their  kindred  in  those 
sacred  precincts.  Finally,  the  friends  and  kindred  of  Mad- 
am Salisbury  followed  her  to  her  last  resting  place,  and  this 
ancient  house  no  longer  sheltered  the  descendants  of  its 
founder. 

While  so  near  it,  we  will  take  a  look  at  the  old  jail  on  the 
opposite  side  of  Lincoln  square.  It  was  a  tall  and  most 
forbidding  looking  building  of  stone,  the  windows  being 
barred  with  iron.  In  it  some  of  the  English  prisoners 
were  confined  during  the  War  of  1812.  The  saddest  event 
connected  with  this  old  jail*  was  the  trial  and  execution  of 
Mrs.  Spooner,  more  than  one  hundred  years  ago.  She  was 
the  daughter  of  Brigadier-General  Ruggles  of  Hardwick, 
one  of  the  most  prominent  men  in  the  county  of  Worcester, 
and  one  of  the  most  noted  of  the  American  Royalists. 
This  lady  did  not  murder  her  husband  herself,  but  she 
hired  others  to  put  him  down  a  well,  and  in  consequence 
she  was  arrested,  brought  to  Worcester,  and  very  possibly 
tried  in  the  old  historic  "Court  House"  f  which  has  so  re- 
cently renewed  its  youth,  and  was  condemned  to  be  hung. 
She  claimed  that  another  life  was  bound  up  with  hers,  but 
the  authorities  would  not  listen  to  her,  so  she  went  to  her 
doom  dressed  in  a  rich  brocade  dress,  and  sitting  in  an  old- 


*  Mrs.  Spooner  and  her  associates  in  crime  were  incarcerated  in 
the  old  wooden  jail  on  the  north  side  of  Lincoln  square,  near  the 
entrance  of  Lincoln  street,  the  old  stone  jail  not  having  been  erected 
till  1788,  ten  years  after  the  trial,  and  which  stood  on  the  south  side 
of  Lincoln  square. 

f  By  common  tradition,  corroborated  by  the  testimony  of  persons 
present,  the  trial  was  held  in  the  "Old  South  Church."  The  session 
of  the  court  was  called  to  be  held  in  the  court  house,  now  the  Trum- 
bull  mansion,  but  for  lack  of  room  the  trial  was  adjourned  to  the 
church,  there  being  great  interest  manifested  in  the  trial. 


406  Proceedings. 

fashioned  chaise.  She  met  her  fate  on  "Mill  Stone  Hill,"* 
and  at  the  post-mortem  examination  it  was  discovered 
that  her  story  was  true  and  that  the  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts  had  murdered  an  innocent  child,  a  foul  blot 
on  its  good  name.  This  lady  was  buried  on  "Mill  Stone 
Hill/'  in  the  Green  Woods.  All  the  details  of  this  crime 
may  be  read  among  "The  State  Trials  of  Massachusetts." 
Although  women  have  committed  murder  since  the  date  of 
this  unfortunate  affair,  none,  perhaps  on  account  of  it,  have 
had  capital  punishment  meted  out  for  the  crime,  and  it 
seems  to  have  become  an  unwritten  law  that  no  woman 
shall  again  be  hung  in  the  "Old  Bay  State." 

On  the  southern  corner  of  Main  and  School  streets  there 
stood,  in  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  a  hard- 
ware shop,  which  was  bought  by  Dr.  Wm.  Paine,  about 
1818,  I  think,  for  I  can't  fix  the  exact  date,  and  was  fitted 
up  by  him  as  a  dwelling  place  for  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Harriet 
Paine  Rose,  making  the  entrance  on  School  street.  Mrs. 
Rose  had  returned  from  the  Island  of  Antigua  some  time 
previously  to  Worcester,  not  because  it  was  her  native 
town,  for  she  had  been  born  in  one  of  the  numerous  places 
her  parents  had  resided  in  during  Dr.  Paine's  banishment 
from  the  United  States,  but  on  account  of  wishing  to  be 
near  her  father  and  mother  in  their  declining  years.  Her 
husband  was  Mr.  Joseph  Rose,  an  Englishman,  and  a  West 
Indian  planter,  and  she  had  resided  for  many  years  in  Anti- 
gua. Her  family  consisted  of  herself  and  two  daughters, 
the  oldest,  Harriet  Paine  Rose,  a  young  lady  in  society  who 
later  became  Mrs.  John  C.  Lee  of  Salem,  and  a  little  girl  of 
ten  years  of  age,  named  Josephine,  who  married  Dr. 
George  Chandler  of  Worcester,  many  years  later.  A  slave 
woman  named  Mary,  who  had  followed  her  mistress  from 


*  On  the  testimony  of  witnesses  who  were  present,  the  place  of 
execution  was  on  a  knoll  which  occupied  the  site  of  the  present 
Union  Station,  being  on  the  east  side  of  the  old  Worcester  and  Graf- 
ton  road. 


Old   Worcester.     I.  407 

the  "Rose  Plantation,"  also  made  a  part  of  the  household. 
Miss  Rachel  Rose,  a  sister  of  Mr.  Rose,  also  formed  part 
of  the  family  and  was  a  very  important  member  of  it,  for 
she  was  its  staff  and  stay.  This  lady  was  much  esteemed 
by  her  friends,  being  a  kind-hearted  woman,  having  much 
energy  of  character,  and  a  large  share  of  common  sense. 
Having  been  born  and  bred  in  England,  she  found  it  diffi- 
cult at  times  to  adapt  herself  to  the  free  and  easy  ways  of 
New  England  life  and  was  much  annoyed  that  her  young 
niece  should  be  sent  to  school  to  mix  with  children  of  all 
ranks  in  life,  and  urged  upon  the  child  not  to  play  with  her 
schoolmates  out  of  school.  But  the  little  English  child  with 
Yankee  air  had  imbibed  Yankee  notions  of  independence, 
and  announced  to  her  scandalized  aunt  "that  if  the  children 
were  good  enough  to  go  to  school  with,  they  were  good 
enough  to  play  with  out  of  school,  and  that  she  should  con- 
tinue to  do  so."  in  a  letter  from  Miss  Rose  to  one  of  her 
friends,  describing  this  incident,  she  writes :  "There  has 
been  a  coolness  between  me  and  Josephine  ever  since." 
The  child,  however,  went  on  her  way  rejoicing,  and  did  not 
then  stop  to  inquire  into  the  pedigree  of  her  schoolmates, 
no  more  than  she  did  into  those  of  her  friends  of  later  life, 
or  of  any  one  on  whom  she  wished  to  confer  a  kindness. 
Miss  Rose  also  feared  the  little  girl  might  contract  some 
disease  at  school,  but  she  writes,  "Dr.  Paine  tells  me  not 
to  worry,  for  Josephine  never  stops  still  long  enough  to 
catch  anything."  Miss  Rose  in  one  of  her  letters  writes, 
"The  good  doctor  has  spent  a  great  deal  of  money  on  the 
house,  and  we  call  it  The  Arsenal',"  and  indeed  she  dates 
many  of  her  letters  with  that  title.  Miss  Harriet  Rose 
owned  one  of  the  four  pianos  in  the  village  of  Worcester, 
and  as  her  aunt  was  an  accomplished  performer  on  the 
tambourine,  there  was  no  lack  of  music  for  the  young  friends 
of  the  household  when  they  wished  to  dance. 

A  short   distance  below  Mrs.  Rose's  house   on   School 
street,  on  the  same  side  of  the  way,  was  what  must  have 


408  Proceedings. 

been  a  part  of  an  old  meeting-house  or  chapel,  for  some 
few  pews  were  left  in  the  room  and  in  it  a  Mrs.,  or  Miss, 
Collins  taught  an  infant  school,  which  I  attended  at  the 
mature  age  of  two  years,  to  begin  my  education. 

Dr.  Paine's  house,  my  home,  was,  I  suppose,  considered 
too  far  out  of  town  in  those  days  for  me  to  be  sent  from 
there,  so  I  lived  with  my  aunt,  Mrs.  Rose,  and  "Aunt 
Rachel,"  as  Miss  Rose  was  called,  took  me  to  and  from 
school  each  day.  I  remember  the  school-mistress  perfect- 
ly, and  that,  with  other  children,  I  used  to  be  put  to  sleep 
every  afternoon  in  one  of  the  old  pews.  On  the  northern 
corner  of  Main  and  Central  streets,  there  was  a  white  wood- 
en house,  but  of  this  I  can  only  repeat  what  I  have  been 
told,  at  one  time  the  home  of  Hon.  Francis  Blake,  one  of 
the  most  eminent  lawyers  in  Massachusetts,  and  consid- 
ered the  handsomest  man  of  his  day.'  He  married  Miss 
Eliza  Augusta  Chandler,  a  granddaughter  of  "The  Honest 
Refugee/'  as  John  Chandler  was  called,  and  lived  here  with 
his  large  family  of  children,  among  whom  were  the  late 
Mrs.  G.  T.  Rice,  H.  G.  O.  and  Commodore  George  Blake. 
At  a  later  date  I  recall  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Oliver  H.  Blood  living 
here.  The  house  is,  I  am  told,  still  standing,  having  been 
moved  down  to  Central  street.  The  "Waldo  Mansion" 
was  the  most  imposing  house  on  the  eastern  side  of  Main 
street,  being  a  large,  double  house,  *  built  of  brick,  and  paint- 
ed white,  and  stood  quite  near  the  street,  an  iron  fence 
dividing  the  narrow  strip  of  grass  in  front  of  the  portico 
from  the  sidewalk.  The  occupants  of  this  dwelling,  as  I 
recall  them,  were  Daniel  Waldo  and  his  three  maiden  sis- 
ters, the  Misses  Betsey,  Rebecca  and  Sally  Waldo.  There 
was  another  sister,  Martha,  who  had  married  Hon.  Levi 
Lincoln,  the  father  of  the  late  gentleman  of  that  name,  who 
had  died  in  1828.  Their  parents  were  Daniel  Waldo  and 
Rebecca  Salisbury  Waldo,  the  latter  a  sister  of  the  first 

*  It  was  not  a  double  house,  but  had  a  single,  spacious  front  door 
on  Main  street. 


Old  Worcester.     I.  409 

Stephen  of 'that  name.  Some  people  may  recall  Daniel 
Waldo,  Jr.,  the  carefully  dressed,  alert  old  gentleman  with 
snow  white  hair,  as  he  walked  briskly  down  Main  street  of 
a  morning  on  his  way  to  his  office  in  Waldo  block.  The 
Misses  Waldo  I  used  to  see,  as  I  passed  the  house,  sitting 
at  work  by  the  windows  of  their  southwest  parlor,  but  I 
chiefly  recall  these  dainty  little  ladies  as  I  have  met  them 
of  a  summer's  afternoon,,  walking  down  Main  street,  on 
their  way  to  take  tea  with  their  aunt,  Madam  Salisbury. 
The  three  sisters  walked  side  by  side,  all  dressed  exactly 
alike  in  dove  colored  silk  dresses,  and  each  wearing  a  cal- 
ash over  their  caps.  Does  anyone  in  these  days  know 
what  a  calash  is  ?  It  was  an  outdoor  covering  for  the  head, 
generally  made  of  green  silk,  after  the  pattern  of  the  hood 
of  an  old  time  bellows  topped  chaise,  with  a  small  cape  be- 
hind, and  kept  in  place  while  in  use,  by  a  bridle,  so  called, 
or  piece  of  ribbon  fastened  on  each  side  of  the  frame  in 
front.  The  wearer  held  on  to  the  bridle  while  it  was  in  use, 
but  when  that  was  let  go,  the  calash  collapsed  and  folded  up 
flat.  They  were  universally  worn  by  ladies  who  wore  caps 
and  turbans,  when  they  went  visiting  in  a  social  way,  and 
were  thereby  saved  the  trouble  of  taking  their  head  dresses 
with  them  to  be  put  on  at  the  house  where  they  were  bound. 
The  last  one  of  the  Waldo  ladies  died,  I  believe,  some  time 
in  the  forties.  The  last  person  in  Worcester  to  wear  a 
turban  was  Mrs.  Rose,  though  I  have  been  told  some  of  the 
young  people  adopted  the  fashion  for  evening  parties,  one 
lady  having  one  made  of  India  muslin,  as  delicate  a  fabric 
as  a  spider's  web.  A  friend  copied  her  example,  put  the 
same  quantity  of  material  into  stiff  book-muslin,  and  with 
this  monstrosity  on  her  head  appeared  at  an  evening  gath- 
ering. Her  husband  after  gazing  at  her  spellbound  for 
some  time,  crossed  the  room,  and  in  the  presence  of  those 

assembled,  said,  calling  her  by  name :  '* you  look  like 

the  devil." 

Before  1840,  or  perhaps  a  little  earlier,  there  were  very 


41  o  Proceedings. 

few  private  carriages  in  Worcester,  and  I  can  only  recall 
three.  Mr.  Daniel  Waldo  and  his  nephew,  Gov.  Lincoln, 
and  Madam  Salisbury  owned  them,  and  the  ladies  of  these 
families  drove  in  them  to  church  and  to  make  visits  to  their 
friends.  These  carriages  would  not  be  considered  hand- 
some equipages  now,  but  they  were  each  drawn  by  a  pair  of 
horses,  and  were  quite  up  to  the  standard  of  the  day.  A 
coachman  in  livery  was  unknown,  and  the  driver  was  gen- 
erally "the  man  of  all  work,"  and  the  horses  could  not  al- 
ways be  spared  for  visiting,  if  there  was  hay  waiting  to  be 
attended  to  or  the  mar*  was  needed  for  any  especial  exi- 
gency connected  with  household  affairs.  Many  people  had 
one  horse  vehicles,  and  the  old-fashioned  bellows  top  chaise 
was  not  entirely  obsolete,  while  people  who  lived  in  the 
outskirts  of  the  town  came  into  the  centre  in  their  comfort- 
able farm  wagons  with  two  seats.  Writing  of  one  horse 
carriages  reminds  me  of  a  story  connected  with  one.  A 
lady  from  out  of  town  had  married  a  gentleman  in  Worce3- 
ter,  to  be  supposed  for  affection,  but  it  was  thought  by  out- 
siders, for  other  considerations,  and  one  was  a  handsome, 
new  carryall.  She  was  calling  at  a  house  one  day,  with  an 
aged  relative  of  her  husband's,  and  on  leaving  rushed  out 
and  entered  the  carriage,  leaving  her  companion  to  get  in 
as  she  could.  The  family  on  whom  the  call  had  been 
made  commented  on  this  breach  of  good  manners,  but  the 
master  of  the  house  said,  "She  married  the  carriage,  why 
shouldn't  she  get  in  first  ?"  — emphasizing  his  remark  by 
some  words  beginning  with  the  letter  "D,"  not  commonly 
used  in  polite  society. 

Very  near  the  corner  of  Main  and  Front  streets  were 
some  low  buildings,  painted  white,  and  from  the  front  of 
one  of  them  projected  a  barber's  pole,  indicating  that  one 
of  that  profession  was  in  possession.  Mr.  John 
Weiss  had  served  his  apprenticeship  with  "Old  Galoupe," 
as  he  was  called,  a  famous  barber  in  Boston  in  former  days ; 
this  shop  was  frequented  on  Sunday  mornings  by  the 


Old  Worcester.     L  411 

gentlemen  of  that  day  to  be  shaved,  and  to  hear  the  news. 
He  had  married  his  master's  daughter,  Miss  Galoupe,  and 
had  moved  to  Worcester  in  1829,  to  set  up  a  business  of  his 
own.  He  had  two  sons — John,  the  eldest,  became  a  noted 
Unitarian  minister,  though  he  will  chiefly  be  remembered 
as  a  leader  and  exponent  of  the  doctrines  of  "The  Free  Re- 
ligious Association,"  whose  members  met  on  Sunday  after- 
noons to  voice  their  opinions,  which  did  not  always  meet 
with  the  approbation  of  their  more  conservative  brethren  in 
Boston,  and  from  whose  pulpits  they  would  not  be  allowed 
to  promulgate  them.  I  often  attended  these  Sunday  after- 
noon gatherings  and  enjoyed  the  brilliant  discourses  of 
John  Weiss,  though  I  could  not  agree  with  his  teachings. 
He  was  also  an  author  of  some  repute,  having  written  a 
"Life  of  Theodore  Parker." 

The  "United  States  Hotel"  stood  on  the  corner  of 
Main  and  Front  streets,  the  latter  street  being  a  rural 
thoroughfare,  with  few  buildings  on  it,  and  they 
facing  the  common,  a  shady,  grass-covered  piece 
of  ground,  on  which  in  those  days  there  was  no 
railway.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rejoice  Newton  occupied  the  first 
house,  a  large,  double  wooden  building,  with  their  son  and 
daughter,  and  three  nieces.  In  the  middle  of  the  street, 
which  extended  to  a  cross  street  beyond,  the  name  of  which 
I  can't  recall,  was  a  small  brick  house  painted  white,  and 
here  lived  Mrs.  Rose.  Why  she  had  moved  from  School 
street,  I  have  no  means  of  knowing,  and  she  could  only 
have  occupied  this  house  for  a  short  time,  as  she  left  it 
soon  after  Dr.  Paine's  death  in  1833,  f°r  Salem,  where  she 
died  in  1862.  On  the  corner  of  Front  street  and  the  one 
running  at  right  angles  with  it,  there  stood  a  large  wooden 
house  painted  white,  with  a  barn  and  outbuildings  in  the 
rear.  Here  lived  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Abijah  Bigelow,  with  one 
son  and  four  daughters,  one  of  the  old  Worcester  families, 
and  one  much  honored  and  respected.  The  garden  on  the 
west  side  of  the  house  extended  nearly  to  Mrs.  Rose's,  a 
high  wooden  fence  dividing  it  from  the  sidewalk.  The  son 


412  Proceedings. 

was  supposed  to  belong  to  that  religious  sect  called  "Mill- 
erites  or  Second  Adventists."  One  seldom  hears  of  these 
people  now,  but  fifty  or  sixty  years  ago  there  was  a  large 
following  of  them  in  New  England  and  many  in  the  town 
and  county  of  Worcester.  Led  on  by  false  prophets  these 
misguided  people  sold  and  disposed  in  various  ways  of  all 
their  belongings  and  dressed  in  their  white  robes  idled 
away  their  time,  watching  for  signs  and  portents  and  wait- 
ing patiently  for  the  expected  coming  of  the  Lord  to  take 
them  up  to  the  heavens.  When  this  craze  came  to  an  end, 
as  it  did  in  time,  these  poor  folks  found  themselves  ruined, 
and  in  middle  life  had  to  begin  all  over  again  to  regain  what 
they  had  lost  by  their  foolishness.  The  ridgepole  of  a  barn 
was  a  favorite  place  on  which  they  perched,  where  dressed 
in  their  ascension  robes  they  would  remain  for  hours,  wait- 
ing and  watching  for  the  opening  of  the  heavens,  and  for 
the  coming  of  the  chariot  which  was  to  convey  them  up- 
wards. After  a  little,  they  became  discouraged  and  when 
a  number  of  them  had  fallen  from  high  places,  and  broken 
their  legs  they  concluded  to  descend  to  terra  firma,  and 
go  to  work,  and  to  no  longer  lead  idle,  foolish  lives,  but  to 
wait  until  they  were  called,  and  to  show  by  their  works  that 
they  were  fit  to  enter  the  heavenly  kingdom.  In  connec- 
tion with  the  Second  Adventists  I  am  reminded  of  an 
anecdote  of  Rev.  Dr.  Francis  Parkman,  whose  house  in  Bos- 
ton at  one  period  stood  where,  from  the  rear,  he  overlooked 
the  grounds  of  an  establishment  of  these  deluded  people. 
One  day  a  minister  from  the  country  came  to  visit  his 
friend,  and  his  attention  being  called  to  these  white-robed 
men  and  women,  as  they  disported  themselves  in  the 
grounds,  wandering  about,  with  no  end  and  aim,  he  re- 
marked after  gazing  at  them  for  some  time,  "Brother  Park- 
man,  I  should  say  those  people  were  fools."  "I  call  theni 
d •  fools,"  said  the  genial  little  doctor. 


Old   Worcester.     II.  413 

OLD  WORCESTER.     II. 

The  "old  Nazro  house,"  as  it  was  called,  stood  on  the 
southern  corner  of  Main  and  Pleasant  streets. 

It  was  a  large  wooden  house,  painted  a  dark  brown,,  and 
set  far  back  from  the  street  in  the  middle  of  a.  yard,  a  walk 
leading  up  to  it  from  the  sidewalk,  on  each  side  of  which 
was  a  lawn.  An  immense  elm  tree  stood  in  one  corner  of 
the  yard,  one  of  the  many  which  added  so  much  in  former 
days  to  the  beauty  of  Worcester  streets. 

As  I  remember  the  house,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Samuel  Ward 
occupied  it,  with  a  family  of  children,  the  eldest  being  Miss 
Sarah  Ward,  who  married  the  late  Harrison  Gray  Otis 
Blake,  the  son  of  the  Hon.  Francis  Blake.  Mrs.  Ward  was 
the  daughter  of  Major  Charles  Chandler,  and  grand- 
daughter of  "the  Honest  Refugee,"  John  Chandler. 

She  inherited  a  large  tract  of  land  from  her  father's  es- 
tate, reaching  from  Pleasant  street  to  the  present  May 
street.  On  the  northern  corner  of  Pleasant  street  were  the 
spacious  grounds  of  Judge  Nathaniel  Paine,  reaching  a 
long  way  up  Pleasant  street,  then  a  high  hill.  The  house 
stood  almost  directly  on  the  street,  a  common  wooden  one, 
painted  white,  there  being  nothing  particularly  attractive 
about  it,  either  inside  or  out. 

The  pleasantest  room  in  the  house  was  a  long,  narro\v 
one,  entered  from  the  front  entry  and  running  the  whole 
width  of  the  house,  with  a  large  glass  window  on  the  south- 
ern side,  in  which  the  sun  lay  all  day  long.  This  room 
was  the  living  as  well  as  the  dining-room,  and  constantly 
occupied  by  the  family,  which  consisted,  as  I  recall  it,  of 
Judge  Paine,  his  twin  sons,  Charles  and  Henry,  and  one 
daughter,  Miss  Sarah  Paine.* 

From  this  room,  one  entered  the  kitchen,  and  from  there 
went  out  on  to  a  broad,  sunny  piazza,  close  to  which  was 


*  Gardiner,  another  son  of  Judge  Paine,  was  married  and  resided 
on  Church  street. 


4 1 4  Proceedings. 

an  old-time  well,  on  the  curb-stone  of  which  in  summer 
time  there  always  stood  a  monthly  rosebush,  much  treas- 
ured by  the  family,  it  having  belonged  to  Mrs.  Paine,  who 
died  in  1830. 

Just  on  the  corner  of  Pleasant  street  stood  Judge  Paine's 
law-office,  where  he  married  couples  and  attended  to  any 
legal  matters  in  which  he  was  interested. 

I  knew  this  house  very  well  as  a  child,  for  I  went  to 
school  in  that  part  of  the  town,  and  my  own  home  being 
too  distant  for  me  to  go  there  at  noon  time,  I  always 
dined  on  week  days  with  my  great  uncle.  There  was  one 
most  interesting  ghost  story  connected  with  this  house,  and 
the  most  authentic  one  I  ever  heard  of.  Mr.  Anthony 
Paine,  a  son  of  Judge  Paine,  who  died  in  1819,  was  lying 
very  ill  in  his  father's  house  and  not  expected  to  live  from 
day  to  day. 

One  morning,  quite  early,  Mr.  John  Bancroft,  a  son  of 
Dr.  Aaron  Bancroft,  and  a  most  intimate  friend  of  Mr. 
Paine's,  saw  the  curtains  at  the  foot  of  his  bed  drawn 
aside,  and  there  stood  his  friend  Anthony.  Mr.  Bancroft 
spoke  to  him,  but  he  vanished  at  once. 

So  soon  as  the  latter  was  dressed  he  hastened  down  stairs 
and  reported  to  the  family  what  he  had  seen,  and  a  mes- 
senger was  at  once  dispatched  to  Judge  Paine's  house, 
who  quickly  returned  with  the  news  that  Mr.  Paine  had 
expired  a  short  time  previous  to  his  being  seen  at  Dr. 
Bancroft's. 

Next  to  the  Paine  house  on  the  north  was  a  brick  shop, 
in  which  dry  goods  were  sold,  and  over  it  was  Mr.  Hen'*y 
Paine's  office,  access  to  which  was  gained  by  a  staircase 
on  the  outside  of  the  building.  This  office  was  quite  a 
resort  of  the  young  men  of  that  day,  who  gathered  there 
of  an  afternoon  to  hear  and  report  the  news  of  the  day. 
Before,  my  time,  Mr.  Samuel  Ward  had  a  shop  on  this 
spot,  a  wooden  building,  and  I  read  in  an  old  letter  that 
he  was  always  ready  to  take  letters  to  and  from  Boston,  to 


Old   Worcester.     II.  415 

bring  samples  of  goods  for  the  ladies  of  that  day,  and  to 
do  any  errands  to  oblige  them  during  his  visits  to  the  city. 

Between  Pearl  and  Elm  streets  stood  a  large,  white, 
wooden  house  in  the  middle  of  a  lawn,  and  not  very  far 
back  from  the  street,  all  the  surroundings  being  kept  in 
the  most  perfect  order  and  condition. 

Here  lived  Mr.  Calvin  Willard,  high  sheriff  of  the  county 
of  Worcester.  It  is  not  many  years  since  he  passed  away, 
so  many  people  must  recall  him,  but  perhaps  not  when  he 
was  in  office  and  as  he  appeared  walking  down  Main  street, 
preceding  the  judges  on  their  way  to  court,  dressed  in  his 
official  costume  of  blue  cloth  coat  with  brass  buttons,  buff 
vest,  high  silk  hat,  with  a  cockade  on  the  side  of  it,  and 
holding  a  cane.  Seemingly,  the  very  embodiment  of  the 
majesty  of  the  law. 

It  used  to  be  said  he  once  hung  a  man,  and  later  kept 
the  rope  in  the  garret  of  his  house,  where  in  consequence 
no  one  dared  go  after  dark. 

Mr.  Willard  was  very  neat  in  his  dress  and  person,  pre- 
cise in  his  conversation,  a  good  man  and  much  respected 
in  the  town,  belonging  to  a  past  generation,  where  digni- 
fied and  courteous  manners  prevailed  more  than  they  do 
at  the  present  day.  I  believe  the  house  was  finally  moved 
round  into  Pearl  street,  to  make  room  for  the  present  brick 
block  now  standing  on  its  site. 

I  must  ask  my  hearers  now  to  stop  for  a  few  moments 
on  the  sidewalk  in  front  of  the  "Lincoln  House,"  while  I 
read  an  extract  from  the  memoirs  of  Dr.  Pliny  Earle. 

He  had,  with  his  mother,  Mrs.  Patience  Earle,  come 
down  from  the  Leicester  hill  to  catch  a  sight,  if  he  could, 
of  "Lafayette,"  having  heard  he  was  to  be  in  Worcester  on 
such  a  date.  He  writes,  "When  I  visited  Worcester,  where 
the  Governor  of  Massachusetts  then  lived,  I  went  to  see 
Lafayette  and  shook  hands  with  him  in  company  with  hun- 
dreds of  others,  as  he  stood  in  the  gateway  in  front  of  the 


41 6  Proceedings. 

residence  of  Gov.  Levi  Lincoln,  a  mansion  afterward  en- 
larged and  converted  into  a  hotel,  "the  Lincoln  House/' 

The  old  "Maccarty  house"  stood  just  north  of  Governor 
Lincoln's,  Maple  street  being  the  dividing  line. 

I  have  no  recollection  of  the  interior,  but  the  house  it- 
self was  a  fine  old  colonial  mansion,  set  high  up  on  the 
hillside,  the  access  to  which  was  gained  by  steps  and  ter- 
races from  the  street,  and  on  the  latter  of  which  were 
planted  shrubs  and  flowers. 

In  an  old  letter,  dated  1822,  I  read  that  Mrs.  Maccarty 
had  recently  died,  and  her  husband  felt  her  death  extreme- 
ly, for  he  said,  "He  never  expected  to  find  any  one  again 
who  would  put  down  his  winter's  pork  to  suit  him  as  she 
had  done." 

Mr.  Nathaniel  Maccarty  must  have  survived  his  wife 
many  years,  for  I  recall  the  auction  held  in  the  house  after 
his  death,  when  many  handsome  pieces  of  furniture  were 
sold.  The  house  was  finally  moved  away,  and  I  learn  is 
still  standing  in  the  vicinity  of  its  former  location. 

Brinley  block  was  erected  on  the  site  of  the  Maccarty 
house,  a  fine  building  for  its  day. 

The  Citizens'  Bank  occupied  the  southwest  end,  while 
the  remaining  front  space  was  occupied  with  shops.  The 
second  floor  of  the  building  was  chiefly  used  for  lawyers' 
offices,  the  sign-boards  of  the  occupants  covering  a  large 
part  of  the  front  of  the  building. 

The  main  feature  of  the  third  story  was  Brinley  Hall,  a 
beautiful  room  and  one  admirably  adapted  for  the  purposes 
for  which  it  was  used. 

I  first  recollect  it  when  Mr.  Weaver,  the  fashionable 
dancing  master  of  his  day,  had  his  dancing  classes  here. 
The  first  ball  I  attended  there  was  on  the  4th  of  March, 
1841,  to  celebrate  the  inauguration  of  President  Harrison, 
the  grandfather  of  one  of  the  late  presidents  and  occupants 
of  the  White  House.  This  occasion  was  probably  the  last 
when  the  so-called  old  people  of  that  day  joined  in  the 


Old   Worcester.     II.  417 

dance,  and  I  recall  perfectly  seeing  the  late  F.  W.  Paine 
and  Mrs.  John  Davis,  Mr.  S.  M.  Burnside  and  Mrs.  Paine, 
Mr.  G.  F.  Rice  and  his  partner,  and  others  too  numerous 
to  mention,  in  a  contra-dance,  and  all  footing  it  as  bravely 
as  any  of  the  young  people  on  the  floor.  In  the  lately 
published  diary  of  Mr.  C.  C.  Baldwin,  I  note  that  he  says 
"Mr.  Burnside  preferred  contra-dances  to  cotillions." 

It  would  be  an  easier  task  to  describe  what  did  not  take 
place  in  Brinley  Hall  than  what  did.  The  cattle-show  balls, 
as  well  as  military  ones,  were  held  here.  Giants  and 
dwarfs  and  dancing  dogs  were  exhibited  here.  Political 
and  temperance  meetings,  public  dinners,  private  theatri- 
cals, fairs,  social  gatherings  and  lyceum  lectures  were  held 
here. 

Here  Signer  Blitz  performed  his  wonderful  feats.  Here 
Russell,  the  noted  singer  of  his  day,  who  has  recently  died, 
sung  to  admiring  audiences,  and  nere  R.  W.  Emerson 
lectured  to  the  delight  of  those  who  heard  and  understood 
him.  When  the  Church  of  the  Second  Parish  was  burned, 
the  society  worshiped  there  until  the  new  house  was  built. 
The  last  time  I  was  in  the  hall  was  to  hear  Lola  Montez 
give  an  account  of  her  experiences,  now  more  than  thirty 
years  since. 

I  remember  well  when  the  "Citizens'  Bank"  was  inau- 
gurated, and  the  great  sheets  of  bills  my  father  used  to 
bring  home  for  his  family  to  cut  apart,  and  what  a  sensa- 
tion it  gave  one  of  handling  vast  sums  of  money,  though 
these  bills  in  their  unsigned  state  were  perfectly  worthless. 
This  bank,  on  the  corner  of  Main  and  Maple  streets,  was 
a  capital  place  to  see  and,  note  what  was  going  on  in  Wor- 
cester, for  everything  and  everybody  were  sure  to  pass 
there  during  some  part  of  the  day  if  they  were  out,  and 
it  used  to  be  said  that  the  frequenters  of  the  bank  appre- 
ciated this  vantage  ground,  and  that  all  the  conversation 
of  the  gentlemen  who  occupied  the  chairs  in  the  large  win- 
dow was  not  always  confined  to  financial  matters. 


4 1 8  Proceedings. 

I  never  hear  of  the  "Citizens'  Bank"  without  being  re- 
minded of  an  amusing  incident  connected  with  it.  One 
morning,  when  people  on  business  arrived  there,  they  were 
treated  to  an  entertainment  they  had  not  counted  upon, 
for  upon  entering  they  found  the  cashier  of  the  bank,  the 
late  Mr.  George  A.  Trumbull,  and  the  late  F.  W.  Paine, 
each  armed  with  a  long-handled  broom,  trying  to  separate 
two  dogs  engaged  in  mortal  combat,  an  end  only  achieved 
when  the  contents  of  Mr.  Paine's  snuff-box  were  thrown 
into  their  faces,  and  then  the  aggressor  was  ejected  from 
the  bank.  The  floor  was  swept  up,  and  the  two  chief  actors 
in  the  affair  had  retired,  one  to  his  armchair  in  the  window, 
and  the  other  behind  the  counter,  and  then  the  business 
of  the  bank  began. 

The  story  was  that  "Jack  Paine,"  as  he  was  called  on 
the  street,  a  Scotch  terrier  belonging  to  Mr.  Paine,  had 
arrived  with  his  master,  as  was  his  usual  custom  every 
morning  at  the  bank,  and  being  very  weary  after  his  long 
walk  and  having  had  several  lively  encounters  with  friends 
on  his  way  up  town,  had  retired  to  his  own  private  corner 
to  take  his  first  nap  of  the  morning,  for  he  was  accustomed 
to  take  many  in  the  course  of  the  day,  as  he  waited  the 
pleasure  of  his  master  in  different  banks  and  insurance 
offices ;  when  an  outsider,  an  old  enemy  of  his,  having  seen 
him  enter,  watched  his  opportunity,  got  into  the  bank  and 
attacked  him  just  as  he  was  dropping  off  to  sleep,  and  thus 
the  fight.  Those  who  remember  Mr.  Trumbuil  and  his 
racy  mode  of  speech,  when  occasion  offered,  can  readily 
understand  what  an  amusing  story  he  made  of  this  affair, 
as  he  described  the  prowess  of  Mr.  Paine  and  himself  with 
the  broomsticks,  in  this  battle  royal  of  the  dogs  in  the  old 
Citizens'  Bank. 

I  have  referred  to  the  bank  window  as  being  an  excel- 
lent place  from  which  to  view  all  that  was  going  on  in  the 
street.  One  day  one  of  the  frequenters  of  the  bank  saw, 
or  thought  he  saw,  his  daughter  pass  the  window  practis- 


Old   Worcester.     II.  419 

ing  what  was  called  the  "Grecian  bend,"  an  ungainly  style 
of  walk  practised  by  the  young  people  of  that  day.  He 
walked  home  at  noontime  brimming  over  with  wrath,  and 
demanded  that  the  culprit  should  appear  before  him.  "I 
was  mortified,"  he  said,  "to  have  my  friends  in  the  bank 
see  you  making  such  an  exhibit  of  yourself  as  you  did  when 
you  passed  this  morning,  and  I  tell  you  I  won't  have  it." 
"But,  father,  I  have  not  been  out  of  the  house  this  morning, 
and  have  not  been  near  the  bank."  "I  don't  care  if  you 
have  been  out  or  not,  that  is  the  way  you  would  have  looked 
if  you  had  been  by  it,  and  I  tell  you  I  won't  have  it." 

This  last  argument  being  unanswerable,  the  young  lady 
retired,  and  when  she  wished  to  practise  the  "Grecian  bend," 
in  the  future,  she  took  good  care  to  walk  in  a  direction 
where  the  parental  eye  would  not  follow  her. 

The  cashier  and  all  the  old  frequenters  of  the  Citizens' 
Bank  have  long  since  passed  away,  and  while  we  hold  them 
in  respectful  remembrance  we  may  feel  sure  their  feelings 
would  not  be  hurt,  if  we  recalled  any  amusing  incident  con- 
nected with  their  lives  while  they  were  with  us. 


